Shadows of a Dying Light
by UranicSubseter34
Summary: Kyle Crane, once the amazing hero of Harran and best runner of the Tower, has now turned into a sentient Volatile, much like The Mother. Crane now has to deal with, not only the infection and its symptoms, but with newfound enemies willing to take him and kill his friends.
1. Chapter 1

**So, what exactly do you think happened to Kyle Crane after the events of the Following? This is my take on what I think happened.**

* * *

 _ **Light up the world with your endless might.**_

 _ **Let its hope burn with a passionate blaze.**_

 _ **Kill the darkness of the blackest nights.**_

 _ **With your lights that slowly die in this craze.**_

* * *

" _Drinking the liquid is... something else entirely._ "

Echoing. Ringing. Blasting. The voice of the Mother emanated from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It scratched and scraped at his head. He felt his head ache painfully, almost as if a migraine had begun kicking in.

" _But in the dark, my new nature dominates; Mindless. LETHAL!_ " The voice reverberated once more, this time increasing the agonizing pain in the unconscious man's head. He couldn't do anything. He was in empty space, only hearing the sound of The Mother's voice repeating phrases and statements she spoke of before her death. Kyle couldn't do anything anymore. He felt like his spirit wasn't connected with his body, and then the voice repeating like a music player began irritating him, both his physical and spiritual self.

" _You can't endure this Kyle! This is a poison. You'll...kill them all!_ " Crane scrunched his face. He closed his eyes and breathed away the anger that the voice was bringing onto him.

"Shut up..." Kyle mumbled, his voice almost Mouse-like.

" _You can't change anything Kyle!_ "

"Shut up." The man's voice rose a few decibels, now sounding as if he were speaking to someone nearby.

" _You cannot survive this!_ "

"God dammit, SHUT UP!" Crane shouted towards the black emptiness of his mind, but nothing quieted down the voice of The Mother.

"Shut up, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" Kyle screamed at the top of his lungs, shutting his eyes, wanting to cry, yet feeling nothing come out. He felt like breaking down, to lay on the floor and accept defeat. He had never quit on his friends, let alone himself, but now, he felt small and weak, and he hated it.

The man stayed that way for a while, just floating in the darkness, letting his thoughts roam around furiously, before a sudden change in the atmosphere snapped him back to his senses. He began feeling his spiritual self dissipate, his body finally gaining back its original owner. Just before gaining consciousness, he heard the Mother speak one final statement.

 _"Maybe you'll understand when you see it with my eyes..._ "

* * *

Kyle Crane awoke with a jolt, his bloodshot eyes snapping open, hands gripping at nothing. His jaw began moving as he tried to adjust to his body again. He began propping himself up, but found his arms slicked in some sort of liquid. Confused, Crane lifted both arms to his sights, and found blood smeared all over them. He rapidly got to his feet and looked around hastily, finally noticing where he was.

The thing was that he didn't know where he was. Surrounded in a large pile of shredded flesh and puddles of blood, Kyle felt himself start to worry a bit. Looking around more, he could see a new sight, one that didn't comfort him in the slightest.

The wall. The Quarantine Wall. He was outside of the walls, and it was at this moment that the realization punched Crane in the face.

Did he cause all of this?

He looked around, trying to find any signs of life. The memories he had began resurfacing again, and he remembered a mother and her children before he lost control. He looked around, finding no signs of the family, and let out a sigh of relief. Hopefully they had escaped this massacre.

He could see the damage he had done. In the distance, another city lay. This couldn't have been Harran because no walls lay after this zone. The city in the distance now had a change in scenery, unlike when he first caught a glimpse during his transformation.

The city had tall buildings, burning, blazing, slowly turning to towers of ruins and ash. Smoke funneled out from many places there, most likely caused by fires. He could see helicopters, tons of them, all flying high in the air. Soon, this city would suffer the same fate as the broken city of Harran.

Crane was focused on the new sight, still a bit shocked by this. He failed to notice a small group of military troops beginning to come up a road.

One soldier shouted and aimed their sights on the monster in front of them, ready to kill the creature.

Unfortunately, they had no idea what they were messing with. Crane snapped his head towards the foreign noises, and began running away. He didn't want to kill, did not want to cause anymore death and suffering.

But something began edging itself into his mind, and he tried to shake it away.

"No, not this..." Whimpered Crane as he ran, trying to lose the soldiers. "Anything but this..."

Now the feeling was ebbing itself more, pushing away his own control. He began blacking out a bit, but was determined to try and not lose control.

"Hurry, it went this way!"

Crane stopped in his tracks and faced the soldiers. He raised his hands up, not wanting to appear hostile. He spoke.

"Stop!" Yelled Crane. The soldiers stopped in their tracks, clearly lost in wonderment. "Don't shoot. I'm still sane."

"Holy shit... It speaks...!"

"Listen to me, you have to leave this area right now. This infection, it's trying to control me. I'm losing control right now as we speak. Please, leave me and spare yourselves!"

The soldiers mumbled and shook their heads.

"We can't let anything else escape anymore. Our orders were to find and kill any infected that are dangerous."

"Leave! Leave right now!"

The soldiers didn't listen and began firing instead. Crane felt one bullet impact his abdomen, and miraculously felt little pain.

But the pain also brought the feeling more. It pushed and pushed and pushed, not giving in. He felt himself grow tired mentally, and finally losing strength, gave in to the darkness. He gripped his head, groaning, and let one hand fall to the floor. His claws began slashing away at the dirt before he let out one final yell.

And now, Crane viewed from inside his mind, the bloodbath that was going to play soon.

* * *

"Sir, stand down." One soldier said. He saw as the Volatile slowly rise up from the floor, it's eyes animalistic and lit up with bloodlust.

"I said stand down!" The shouting only provoked the monster more. It placed one foot in front of itself, and the soldiers began firing again, not wanting to wait for surrender anymore. The Volatile screeched once, and in an instant, went up to the first soldier, slicing open his clothes and striking flesh. The man collapsed to the floor and cried out in pain, writhing on the dirt that was becoming caked in blood. The three other soldiers began panicking, but were too late to react. One man was also slashed on the body, but he thankfully died quickly. The second soldier tried to run, but was grabbed by the monster, who began slashing away at the man's face. The outcome was a mess, a face unable to be made out from it anymore.

The last soldier did not witness the deaths of his comrades, but he hid away. He slouched against a tree and sighed, feeling confident in his hiding spot. And that was when he felt something land on top of him, knocking the wind out of his lungs. The Volatile screech right at his face before clawing at the soldier's chest. The man yelled in pain and tried to escape, but the monster had an iron grip on him. It struck once at the man's neck, instantly crushing the trachea, as well as cutting open the Jugular vein. The soldier choked on his own blood, trying to yell, the life in his eyes already dying down to nothing. Slowly, the man died from the blood loss and lack of oxygen intake.

The Volatile breathed rapidly, adrenaline pumping throughout its body, before it began to grow tired. It staggered around, losing balance, before finally collapsing on the floor.

* * *

Crane's eyes fluttered open as the telltale smell of iron filled his nostrils. He groggily lifted himself from the ground and viewed the scene in front of him. Blood, gore, which was something that never changed where he came from.

The guilt. It began wrenching his insides, turning his stomach into soup. It trickled down his back, scratching down with nails of shame.

He had done this... this damage. Everything rushed into his mind again, and now he began to panic. He began running away, away from the macabre scene, away from the newly infected zone, and rushing towards the wall. He had always wanted to come back out, but he knew that he was needed in Harran first. Now, he needed to go back inside for answers, and more importantly, for help.

Crane ran up a road, and he tried his best to remember where exactly he came from. The only thing that came to mind was that small playground where he first turned. The sewer entrance was there, he just needed to find the playground first. He pressed on, not caring that his legs were screaming in pain, his lungs being stabbed with every intake of oxygen.

And finally, he began seeing the view of the playground. And thankfully, he still saw no signs of the mother and her kids. He kept going, dodging the few pieces of play equipment, and finally climbed the rocks leading to the sewer entrance.

He jumped in, crushing a lone Biter in the process. And he ran once more, not in a specific path, but any path that wasn't blocked or locked.

* * *

"Come on, get the hell out of there!" The man yelled, holding the door open for the remaining patients of the sick bay. He slammed the door shut, right before the sound of Biters slamming against the door played. The infected groaned and shrieked, trying their best to get to their prey.

Harris Brecken leaned against the door and slid down, planting himself to the floor. He wiped his face with his hand and shook his head.

Footsteps rang out and he saw a pair of feet stop in front of him. The person stuck their hand out, wanting to help him up. He took their hand and rose from the floor.

Lena was now in his sight, and she had worry written all over her face.

"Brecken, what are we going to do now?" Asked Lena. "We can't keep these infected in the same place as the people. They are terrified, worried about the safety of the children and themselves."

"I know that Lena, and I wish I could do something about it. The only solution we have right now is kill these infected off, and just hope that the remaining survivors can last till Crane comes back."

"Brecken, please understand our situation." Lena's voice became stern. "Crane is not going to come back. We haven't heard from him in two days!"

"I think that something may have happened to him. Something way worse than just the infected."

Brecken shook his head in dissatisfaction and spoke again.

"Kyle isn't that easy to take down. Whatever got to him should worry us as well. I just hope he hasn't come back yet because he's taking his sweet ass time to get that cure."

The two stayed silent for a bit. They could hear the infected banging inside the former sick bay, the sound of people chatting anxiously, and the occasional groan from the sick patients.

"I'm going to head back to Headquarters, Lena." Brecken broke the silence. "I'll see if I can try and make contact with Crane. Let's pray he actually receives the message this time."

Brecken patted Lena on the shoulder and headed back to his room.

He walked back, passing a few people that were still in a panic. He opened the door, shutting it behind him, and plopped himself onto the chair Rahim used to use. He skulked through his pocket, and fished out the walkie-talkie Lena had lent him. She had used it to communicate and check up on Crane's progress, but let him use it after the connection was lost.

He pressed the button to let him speak, and let out a few words.

"Crane, this is Brecken. Do you copy?"

No answer.

"I repeat. Crane, this is Brecken. Do you copy?"

Nothing.

Brecken sighed and slouched in the chair. He got up and walked towards the balcony he had, where he leaned against the railing, looking out at the horizon. The wind blew his hair a bit, as well as the bandages he had. He looked, still seeing the same view he saw for the six months he was trapped in here. And just as he thought everything was normal, he saw a few black dots very far into the distance. Smoke was rising up from that area as well, and confusion was beginning to cloud his mind. He was unaware of the events occurring on the other side of the mountains, even further from the Countryside.

Brecken decided to try once more. "Crane, this is Brecken. Do you copy?"

Like before, no voice came through.

Brecken sighed and kept on looking at the horizon. His wandering mind was taken back to reality when the sound of Lena shouting his name sounded. He rushed out the room, leaving behind the walkie.

And from the forgotten walkie came one quick sound of someone talking to themselves.

* * *

 **So, to anyone that still remembers the original first chapter of this fanfiction, I changed it. After playing The Following, I realized there were some flaws with the old version. Not everything will be edited, but perhaps the first few chapters will be changed to actually fit with the main plot line. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

Pathway after pathway. Tunnel after tunnel. Door after door. Rinse and repeat. Crane had gone through this process for a good hour, and it had quickly become annoyingly repetitive. Somehow he couldn't find his way back to the dam. Every time he thought that the entrance would be behind a door, all he found was a dead end.

Tunnels had mostly been empty, with the occasional Biter or Viral shambling about. They were easily taken care of with his new claws.

And the pathways would spread out into many ways. There were many forks in the pathways, and this just made things even worse. Crane had lost his patience long before, and now he couldn't even handle it anymore. He felt like he was stuck in some sort of purgatory, where he was subjected to an endless time of running around in the sewers and tunnels of the Quarantine.

Kyle had grown tired, physically and mentally. His legs were now too worn out, his feet aching from the constant use. Stumbling along, using the wall for support, the man tried to press forward. He pushed on, just a little longer, before he finally fell to the floor, his body making a soft thud against the cold concrete floor.

He stayed quiet, hearing his breath in the absolute stillness of the sewers. At times, he thought he could hear a scream of terror, but perhaps it had been in his head.

Crane began looking around again, still not trying to get up from the floor. And that's when something caught his eye.

A long, thin vial, brightly burning with the color of a lustrous sapphire. He crawled towards the object, and grabbed it. He inspected it, finally confirming that it was one of the three vials he took from the Mother.

Pocketing it away, Crane had realized that perhaps he was finally going in the right way. If he had dropped this vial here, then the dam wasn't too far off.

Kyle had finally mustered up enough energy to lift himself off the ground, able to walk on the pathway out of this hell.

At a snail's pace, Crane went on. He went through more doors, a few more tunnels, and still walking on a long path. However, he felt something change in the scenery. The tunnels and diffusion of pathways had finally stopped. He shoved a door open, pushing with the rest of his force, and made a crack big enough for him to squeeze through.

He kept on going, finally arriving inside the dam. He looked around, finding the bodies of the Mother's acolytes still in their resting places, along with the few thugs that tried to attack this place.

And Kyle finally arrived in the room. The place where the Mother had spoken to him, showed her true colors, and proposed an idea so horrible, it caused her very demise. Unfortunately, it also caused him to turn into... this thing! This ghastly, terrifying creature!

He let his mind touch this subject again, and what he wasn't expecting was to create a visual illusion like how the Mother did to show her own personal story.

Figures consisting of blue began phasing into form, right where Crane had finally discovered the Mother's secret.

He saw as his avatar fell to the floor in fear, and both avatars were discussing.

Crane had finally been able to see this entire scene through a new perspective, and it somewhat mesmerized him. At times, it even sounded like there were a couple words being spoken through the avatars.

It was all the same. From the body language, to the arguing, to the Mother taking the vial and making him drink the elixir.

It all seemed so surreal, and for a moment, he felt like he was going through it all over again. He began shaking his thoughts away. Kyle did not want to go through that again. He had felt true sympathy for the woman who had reached out to him, but once she mentioned a fail-safe, he couldn't accept that. He had fought to turn on a radio tower just so he could contact the outside world and tell them that there were still survivors. Kyle couldn't just take all that wasted effort to save this city and throw it out like a piece of dog shit.

In the end, he had to kill her. The thing is, her attacks didn't leave scars, they were the words she said.

" _I AM COMING FOR YOU!_ " The words began echoing through his head, his brain.

" _They penetrate the skin. The bones. The BRAIN...!_ "

"My God, don't you ever keep your mouth shut?!" Kyle yelled at the empty space around him, knowing for a fact that the woman was long gone. He let out a long sigh, not wanting to deal with this again. The man began taking the corridors leading back out of this place. Hopefully, outside of this hell hole, he could finally contact Lena or Brecken.

* * *

The sun burned bright, blinding Kyle for a short period of time as his eyes adjusted to the light. Once his eyes and head stopped aching, he began scavenging through his pack, looking for the walkie-talkie he had come equipped with.

"Come on, come on. I know you're in here." Crane said as he pushed away other items, trying his best to find his only form of communication.

Then, he felt the small antenna on the device and pulled it out, reeling in a couple items as well. He shoved those back in and closed the bag. And for the first time in two and half days, Kyle Crane heard a voice emit from the walkie.

* * *

"Brecken, what are we going to do?" Lena's distressed voice made it clear that things were not any better. The man sighed and ran his hand through the short hair he had. He paced the Headquarters room, his face showing that he was deeply focused on the matter. After a couple seconds, Brecken threw his hands in the air and sighed.

"Lena, even I'm not sure what to do anymore. Kyle hasn't answered back and he is the only one with this supposed cure." Brecken stated.

"I know all of that already, but he hasn't even made any effort to contact us." Lena said. "What if...he comes to late?"

The eerie, yet depressing tone in the medical expert's voice sent light chills down his spine. What if Crane came back too late? They couldn't afford to shut down another floor. They had already lost a few people in the sick bay. It was just a matter of time before more people turned, making them close off the 19th floor.

"If Crane doesn't come back by tomorrow... We may have to start taking drastic measures Lena." Brecken said, but his voice was not the usual serious tone. Instead, he held fear. He held fear for his people. He had been their caretaker, and losing them now would make saving them useless. All that he had done, what Rahim had taught, Jade had shown, and what Kyle had succeeded in doing, would prove to be all for nothing.

"For now, just worry about the patients." Brecken pushed the subject away, trying his best to lift their spirits just a tiny bit. "And don't overwork yourself either."

Lena slightly grinned and nodded in approval, quickly embracing the man, before finally heading out of the room, back to the second makeshift sick bay.

* * *

In the Headquarters room, the walkie-talkie stood next to the radio that Rahim had constantly used before passing. Brecken snatched the walkie from its location and pressed on the button to allow for communication. He cleared his throat as he let out the words he had repeated for two and a half days now.

"Brecken to Crane, do you copy?" White noise.

"Brecken to Crane, do you copy?" Nothing.

Brecken sighed, and was about to speak again when he felt something trickling it's way down his face. He wiped at it, but wasn't expecting his fingers to come back wet.

Tears. The man was beginning to cry, small pinpricks already starting to form once more in the edges of his eyes. Roughly, Brecken wiped them away again with a clenched fist, his breath lightly faltering. Feeling the effects of the hopelessness, he slammed his fist on the table, while also scowling and grunting in anger.

"Crane, where are you mate?" His voice was now a whisper, his original tone dragged down by sadness.

"We need you to come back." His voice was hoarse with emotions. "I'm not even sure if you're hearing this, but if you are, please get here as fast as you can. We're all losing hope, and you're the last thing we are counting on." Brecken's face was beginning to fluster, turning raw and wet with tears, the fluid making his eyes sting in pain.

" _One more time, Harris._ " He told himself as he wiped away the tears and spoke once again.

"So for the millionth time, Brecken to Kyle, do you copy?" The Tower Leader waited. Ten seconds. Twenty seconds. A minute had passed, and no reply had come through.

Brecken let his shoulders slouch as he walked around to the other side of the desk, where he allowed himself to plop down onto the chair.

" _I'm no leader! I'm a goddamn parkour instructor!_ "

That's all he was, an instructor. He couldn't help the people from the 18th floor. And now the people on the 19th floor would soon meet the same fate.

Brecken fought back the tears as he sat in the chair. He felt his face growing hot with anger, the tears also trying their hardest to escape. And he couldn't keep the dam of tears closed. They escaped, running down his face, leaving their trail. He covered his face with his hand, not really knowing what else to do.

He let out a hiccup, his sobs playing lightly in the empty room. He let his emotions run wild for a bit, not caring if anyone witnessed him crying away his worries.

And as he continued to do this, something new, something foreign, began to ring out from the walkie.

Chuckles, at first light, then they slowly turned loud. And the chuckles turned to words.

"Damn Brecken, I didn't know you missed me that much." Crane's voice came from the walkie, now stopping Brecken mid-sob. His brain had registered the voice, yet he felt like he hadn't fully connected the pieces together yet. He was in disbelief, but the sound of Kyle laughing had quickly brought him back to his senses.

"Kyle, where the FUCK have you been? Do you even get how worried we've been?" Brecken shouted into the walkie.

"Well, hearing you cry is a really good way of convincing me."

"Oh fuck you Crane!" The Leader cursed as he began laughing his ass off, almost coming close to falling off the chair.

Things were finally starting to turn for the better.


	3. Chapter 3

"So Crane, all jokes aside, where the hell have you been?" Brecken regained his composure again and asked the runner this question. For a moment, nothing was heard coming from the other end.

"Mate, are you still there?"

" _Y-yeah Brecken, I'm still here._ " Crane said, sounding a bit distressed. " _And as to where I've been? Pretty much hell and the pathway leading back to its gates._ "

Brecken chuckled and pressed on the walkie again.

"Also, what happened to you mate? You were gone for a few days now, and we've all been worried sick." Brecken stated, obviously not playing around anymore.

And like before, Kyle stayed silent. The silent treatment that he was giving was putting Brecken on edge. It seemed like the runner only did that during moments of hesitance.

" _Brecken, I've got a problem, and a really big one._ " Crane said. " _I wasn't in my right mind for those couple days I was missing. It's possible you won't believe me, but the leader of the Cult forced me to drink the supposed cure, and it turned me into a-._ " Crane paused.

"A what?"

 **"** _I-It turned me into a Volatile, Brecken. I don't know how that elixir works, but it made me just like her; a sentient Volatile._ " Kyle spilled all of this, yet Brecken could not believe what he heard.

"Crane, I already told you to stop joking around."

" _Brecken, do you think this is a fucking joke?!_ " The runner shouted with impatience. " _I'm not playing around. I'm a fucking Volatile! Even I'm still very lost about this!_ "

Brecken still had no idea what to think. It was obvious that Kyle was not messing around anymore; he was being serious. Never in his life did he ever think that a Volatile could have human cognitive thought ever again. What that cult leader made Crane take was far more dangerous than they could even try and comprehend. If anything, Kyle had to give Camden that elixir for him to examine it. Cure or mutagen, finding out what it was could help determine what its use is.

"Crane, hold on for a few seconds, I'm gonna go get Lena." Brecken said, running out of his room to grab his partner.

He rushed to the new sick bay, where Lena was stressfully checking on a few patients.

"Lena, you're not going to believe it!"

* * *

Kyle stood outside the door that took him into the tunnels leading to the dam. The sun was still bright, so he had little worry about going crazy. He also waited for Brecken, the man saying that he needed to go get Lena for who knows what.

God, how crazy this whole thing has been.

" _Crane?_ " Lena's voice rang from the walkie and he brought it back up to his mouth to speak.

"Yeah. What's up?"

" _Brecken told me what happened to you._ "

"I had a feeling he was going to do that."

" _Crane, it's obvious that the elixir you were going to bring back is not a cure."_ Lena stated.

 _"It's best we discuss what to do with it._ " Lena said, but then Brecken's voice broke through as well.

" _I think he should just turn it in to Camden. If anything, the doctor could inspect it and see exactly what it does._ "

"I had that planned up on the side, after I could finally help you guys with the situation. I wanted to keep one vial just so Dr. Camden could see it and hopefully find out whether he could create more."

"But then I realized that this supposed cure was nothing but a facade! Look what it turned me into!" Crane breathed in and out hard, before continuing.

"Look, I know I should just take these vials to him, but you two can't possibly understand what it feels like." Kyle's voice began cracking under the immense pressure of his emotions. "When these instincts take over, I can't do anything but sit and watch from behind the scenes. I witnessed myself kill an innocent group of soldiers gruesomely, all by my hands. All they were doing was just following orders!"

Nothing came from the walkie-talkie. Crane just looked at it through half closed eyes and waited for a response.

" _Kyle, we don't have to ponder on that for now. Maybe when you feel ready to do so._ " Lena broke the silence.

Crane forced down a whimper and answered. "Yeah, I think that's good."

" _If you don't mind, would you please tell me some side effects of this... mutation?_ "

Crane gulped, tried his best to calm himself a bit, and agreed.

"This infection somehow left me with a still intact jaw, so I'm happy about that. A few new additions are telepathy, powerful screeches like those of a Screamer, and the ability to recreate memories using avatars." Kyle stated, and all he heard from Lena were light hums of acknowledgement.

" _I'm sorry for asking this Crane, and this technically goes against what I just said not too long ago, but has this form changed you emotionally or mentally?_ " Crane grunted painfully when he heard Lena ask this. He didn't want to keep messing with that experience.

"Lena, you said we weren't going to touch on this..."

" _I know Crane, but let's face it, we have to tackle this problem head on. You can't just expect to live the rest of your life like this._ " Lena spoke the cold, hard truth. Kyle sighed, and knew for a fact that he was trying his best to evade this. Once you're stuck in a dilemma, approaching it directly was probably the best thing that you could do.

"Okay Lena, I'll tell you." Kyle softly spoke, almost as if he were whispering a secret. "I see things. I hear things. The voice of the Mother, visions of her, and of Rahim and Jade, and others that we've lost. It makes me feel horrible, knowing that they all needed my help, but I couldn't help them in the slightest."

" _Crane, it's okay if you don't want to continue anymore._ " Lena gently said, trying not to pressure the man into treading in a pit of sadness.

"No Lena, if I'm going to fight through this, I must tackle the problem!" Kyle loudly spoke at the walkie. He breathed out hard and continued. "Ok... Even worse are the little mist-like illusions I can make. I accidentally made one that showed the events I faced at the dam, the place where the Mother asked for my help, but instead, I killed her just for these stupid Volatiles in a vial." Crane breathed hard as he poured out the things he had tried to hold in. His hands clenched tightly, forming into a fist.

"Seeing her approach me for help was heart wrenching. She was crazy, but I know now that she was right. All I was doing was spreading the downfall of humanity by taking these vials."

"Lena, I need to take these to Camden. At this point, these elixirs are the only other key to finding a cure." Kyle weakly stated. "I saw it's effects, and they do work. The zombies don't even sense you, but The Mother said that even the mist form of it slowly turns you into a Volatile. If he can see what it actually does, and whether it's possibly a cure, then we could all be saved from this."

" _My God, all of this has become so... mind-boggling! To think, this cult that barely anyone had heard of has the closest thing to a cure._ " Lena sounded so astounded. Crane shook his head in delight.

" _That's it then Kyle. You have to stick to this plan now._ " Brecken spoke now, not even trying to interrupt what had just occurred. " _If Camden can find a cure using the elixirs, it can help almost all of us. The better thing is that, if he can find a way to try and reverse this mutation, you can become better as well Kyle!"_

" _Don't lose faith now, mate! Now is when you should arise and combat the darkness. And just know that you're not going to be fighting on your own, we're here for you. We're your lights Kyle, and we'll try our best to help you with this._ " Brecken said all of this, and Kyle get as if the darkness that was dragging him down had let go of him for a bit. His spirits were slowly starting to grow again.

"Sounds like a plan guys." Kyle spoke into his walkie.

" _Sounds great Crane, but before you start jumping ahead, get some rest first._ " Lena said this, but she immediately comprehended what she said.

" _Um, now that's another question... Where can you go now?_ "

"Not the Tower, that's for sure. I don't want to go in there and hurt people, so staying away from there is probably the best thing to do."

" _Thank you for understanding Crane. Both Brecken and I wish you the best of luck. Take care._ " Lena said as she cut off contact.

Crane stared intently at the walkie-talkie again, and began laughing hysterically.

"Jesus Christ on a pony, how will this turn out later on?" He didn't know, and wasn't sure he ever would know, but he knew that he was still needed here, infected or not.

Crane scanned the area, trying to catch sight of his buggy. If no one had tampered with it, then it should have still stayed in its last spot. And there, the windshield of the vehicle was reflecting sunlight from itself, showing its location.

Kyle went to the edge of the dam, where he saw a few piles of trash bags strewn about. He quickly prayed before finally jumping down, landing on the bags, knocking the wind out of his lungs.

After regaining himself, he began sprinting towards his car. Once he was finally close enough, he pulled the door open and jumped into the seat. He turned the key, firing up the ignition, and the mesmerizing sound of the engine purring was like heaven for Crane.

"Time to go back home." Kyle said as he stomped his foot on the pedal, finally riding away from the place he called "Hell".


	4. Chapter 4

The buggy slammed into a horde of Biters, with a couple of Virals clinging onto the vehicle as well. Blood sprayed all over the windshield, as well as splattering onto Crane. He wiped at his face, gagging at times when the fluid got into his mouth. Although disgusting, this didn't stop the man from speeding through the fields, dirt roads, and constant hordes of infected. His only way to actually try and reach Harran again was going through the tunnel that Ezgi had taken when she fled.

The girl had made it, so perhaps he could as well.

He was constantly checking his map, trying his best to find landmarks leading to the tunnel again. He had forgotten its location, so only estimations of its spot, along with any familiar things were his only helping hands.

And to his luck, familiar territory was starting to show. Soon enough, the tunnel was finally coming into his sights.

Ecstatic about leaving, Crane turned the car's Nitro on, and like a rocket setting off, the car sped down the fields, pulverizing boxes and infected in its path. The man finally slowed down once the distance between him and the tunnel was short.

He slammed on the brakes, hopping out of the car, and began running into the entrance.

Crane began treading deeper into the tunnel, finding that everything was untouched. No Volatiles, no Biters, nothing. Everything that was here when he destroyed the nest was still in its place.

Now Kyle began getting into the section where the Volatiles resided, the place that had piles of corpses stacked high up, many touching the ceiling. He could hear the sound of distant screeches, and thought that the noises were coming from the area. However, when he heard more closely, he could hear that they came from other parts of the tunnel, most likely areas he had no access to.

Crane began heading into one of the doors, where he ran down the corridors. Doing this had brought back the horrible memory of being lost in the sewers, trying to find his way back to the Countryside.

But now, Kyle wasn't in a state of shock or guilt. He felt determined, ready to take on whatever came to him. So, he kept on running, his energy not running dry in the slightest.

And he finally went down the path leading him back home.

* * *

It hadn't taken too long before Crane could feel short gusts of wind coming out from somewhere. He was getting closer to the other entrance, the one that was near Old Town. He had stopped running a while back, not because he was tired, but because he wasn't sure whether there were any infected in this part of the tunnel.

Crane had also begun looking about, finding many bags of luggage strewn about. Here and there, a few cars still held makeshift medkits and other useful items. The man took them, not really caring who's they were.

It took a little more time, but soon enough, Kyle began seeing sunlight. He finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel, and began picking up his pace. He started with a jog, then slowly started to turn to running, and with this newfound hope, began sprinting away, jumping over the bags and springing over cars. And in no time, he was finally coming face to face with the outside world.

* * *

The sun blazed brightly, shining straight into his eyes, temporarily blinding him. His head began to hurt as his eyes adjusted to the sunlight, but the pain had subsided after a few seconds.

Crane put his hand over his eyes to block the sunlight, and he found himself in a place unfamiliar to him.

"What the hell? I thought this was supposed to take me to Old Town." Crane talked to open space, not intending for anyone to listen. He took out his walkie talkie and began to dial a number in, hopefully contacting Ezgi. After a few seconds, someone picked up.

"Who's this?"

"Ezgi, it's Crane."

"Crane! It's so good to hear from you. How have you been doing?" Her voice sounded very happy, not like her old self when she was in the Countryside.

"Not so good. I have a very big problem at the moment... but that's not why I'm talking to you. I need to know where you went after exiting the tunnel you took to Old Town."

"Sure." Ezgi replied. "Let me think... There was a view of the ocean, and this tunnel lead out onto like a road on the cliff side. After you walk on this road, you should eventually come to another tunnel, and inside it there's a door leading underground. After a few minutes underground, you should finally come to a fork in the path, and the right side should take you to a ladder leading back up to some streets."

"And from what I also recall... The first things you spot are a radio tower, a couple tall buildings, and in the distance, you can spot Troy's loft."

Crane listened carefully until she finished. He nodded to himself in delight.

"Ok, I think that'll do. Thanks a lot, Ezgi."

"No problem, Kyle. And whatever you're going through right now, I wish you the best of luck." Ezgi said as she finally cut the connection.

Crane began following the directions Ezgi gave him. He went down the road, and the scenery was described accurately. It was a road on a cliff, with a very beautiful view of the ocean. In the distance, he could see Old Town. He pressed on, finding no signs of life, or the undead.

It took a while before he actually did come across the 2nd tunnel that Ezgi mentioned. Crane went inside, and like the girl said, a door was inside as well. He tried to open it, but it was locked shut. He began kicking at it, and with a loud bang, the door flew off its hinges and landed on the floor.

The sound of screeches was coming from outside the tunnel now. Crane accidentally attracted some Virals.

"God dammit!" Kyle shouted as he began running down the entrance, the Virals beginning to follow after him. He sprinted as the infected tried to swipe at him, and that's when the fork in the path finally appeared. He took the right, and kept on running, not listening to his lungs and the pain that they were going through.

Crane tried to keep going, but soon enough, his energy had finally been drained clean. He tripped as he failed to place his left foot onto the floor, the Virals finally getting the chance to attack.

But just as the man was beginning to black out, he felt the instincts start to take over now. And now, as he finally escaped into the darkness of his mind, the Volatile finally came back.

* * *

The eyes of the monster opened, and it felt the pain of the infected punching at its body. Each wave of aching pain from a punch or claw swipe angered it, making its frustration boil up.

And now, it finally rose from the floor and began going ballistic onto the small group of Virals. They were easily sliced into pieces, with a few bodies unrecognizable. It continued to press on, going forwards on the path to Old Town.

But as it kept inching forwards, the monster was beginning to lose its grasp of the body. It stumbled, lagging a bit, sometimes even knocking into walls or other objects. And just as it finally reached the ladder leading back up to the surface, it finally lost its touch and retreated back inside, back to the darkest reaches of Crane's brain.

* * *

Kyle began opening his eyes, and he began looking around as best as he could without getting up. No sign of the infected, nor any sort of life. He propped himself up, and began looking around again. No bodies, no blood, nothing.

Crane looked around in confusion, trying his best to explain what the heck had happened.

And just as he was about to use the wall as support, he caught a glimpse of his hands.

Bloodied, beaten, and bits of gore were hanging off of them. And that's when the thought had occurred to him, that perhaps his Volatile side had killed them off.

He shrugged and turned around to find a ladder as well. Crane thought about whether to take it or not, eventually agreeing in doing so and climbing them.

And when he pushed away the manhole cover, he finally came face to face with Old Town, the Loft in the distance, and the Radio Tower. Ezgi was right; Her description wasn't wrong in the slightest.

Crane felt the need to go to the Loft, perhaps to greet Troy or Ezgi, but he decided against it. They didn't need to know about his condition just yet.

So Crane began heading to the other sewer entrance, the one that would take him back to the Slums.


	5. Chapter 5

Crane pushed the door to the tunnel entrance open, sighing in relief.

"Thank God, I'm finally back...!" The man groaned in delight as he began heading to the outside of the structure. When there, he slid against one of its walls, where he finally sat on the floor, his hands between his legs.

Kyle looked out at the sight of Harran, beginning to get lost in thought.

Where exactly could he go? The Tower was not an option anymore. As for Safe Zones, he wasn't sure whether the UV lights of the safe zones would affect him, but he wasn't willing to try it out. He saw the effects of it on Volatiles, and they would actually start to smoke up if shined on.

He only had one other choice, and that was to break into a random house and just make do. If he could at least try and get somewhat close to the Tower, if would be alright. He could perhaps help the residents there by getting supplies for them.

Wait... Supplies! The Tower was most likely in need of supplies. He had heard Lena's desperation before going to the Dam, and it was saddening. He needed to get some now, or else they wouldn't make it past a few days.

Now where was the one place he could sneak into and just steal a bunch of supplies?

...

Kyle began grinning to himself in a sly manner as he got back up. He stretched, a few of his bones cracking.

"I guess it's time to pay the Garrison a nice visit." Crane smirked as he began growing his idea. As to how he would get in, he would sneak through the way he did when trying to get Zere. After that, just jump down from the balconies and then gather as many supplies as he could get. It occurred to him that he needed to kill some people if it became necessary, but this thought didn't bother him much. He was already used to killing the thugs just so he could grab some drops.

Kyle began running towards where the Garrison was, his location just a bit far from there. Now, as he ran and jumped off the highway road and onto a ship crate, he looked at his map and roughly guessed the direction of Rais's Garrison.

He looked at the sky, the sun still burning bright, but it looked as if it would soon become dark. He had to hurry before that occurred.

Crane ran, jumping over zombies and charging into hordes as well. This infection just helped him become stronger. He could jump a lot higher than he ever could when he was normal. He could run just a bit faster as well. Even his stamina was better, which allowed him to run, jump, and climb without even breaking a sweat. Crane felt the infection's power, and instead of using it for atrocities, he decided to try his best to use it for the good of others.

" _Tomorrow is another day. And you won't have to hide away._ "

He didn't have to hide this from Brecken or Lena anymore. His infection couldn't keep him down, and he shouldn't let it anyways. If he succeeded in doing this supply robbery, by tomorrow, the Tower would have all they needed for now. Food, supplies, medicine, all of this. He was the best runner before, and this infection certainly couldn't take that name away like nothing.

"It's now or never, Crane." The runner spoke to himself as he kept on running. He replayed the song he quoted to himself, the tune and lyrics that were implanted inside his head playing again.

* * *

His running cane to a halt once he stood at the front of Rais's Garrison. Crane looked carefully, but didn't see any guards at the front. Then again, there hadn't been guards there since he had escaped The Pit and chopped Rais's hand off.

What he did know was that there would be guards in the back, the one place he needed to be. If he could at least try and sneak up on them, perhaps he could quickly knock them out and snatch the things he needed.

But what if he failed in being stealthy? He shook that thought away, telling himself that he would cross that bridge when he gets to it.

Now, Crane started jogging to the side of the building, the van that helped as a height boost still standing there. He mentally fist-pumped as he got close to it and jumped on its roof. From there, he bounced and latched onto the railings of the building, climbing them like stairs. Once he was in distance of the porch railings, he used his arm force to push himself forward and grab onto the porch.

All this was done with ease, and for a moment, Kyle wished that this had been more of a challenge.

"Let's not jinx ourselves now." The man mumbled to himself as he went from porch to porch,then walking on some makeshift path to get inside. He scanned the area, seeing that there were about three thugs standing with their guns by their sides. He also caught sight of the Airdrop crates that were stacked on each other. Almost all of them were untouched, and it was like looking at a chest full of gold.

Crane knew that he could perhaps slip through the three in the bottom, but if his memory was correct, there would be some men on the roof too. This could ultimately have him in a very tight situation.

And before he could try and come up with any sort of back up plan, he heard a shout come from one of the men. Crane focused his sights on him, seeing the thug pointing his rifle straight at him. He quickly ducked down as the bullets whizzed over him. A few also blew right through the concrete and almost caught him.

Now, he arose from his position and expertly jumped down from the porch. He was expecting a bone-aching pain to happen, but instead, he felt his whole body land softly on two feet. Crane was still shocked at how powerful his body now was.

He rushed to take cover behind one of the Airdrop crates.

"Fuck, what do I do now?" Crane grunted as he heard gunshots smacking against the crate. He looked around, but only found a lone pistol. He grabbed it, checked to see if it had any ammo, and when he confirmed it to be full, came out into the open and began opening fire. One bullet flew and barely grazed the arm of one man. A few more rounds released, and these punctured the bodies of the other thugs. They yelped and groaned in pain, and yet they still kept on firing.

He had no other choice. It had to come to this.

Allowing his mind to relax a bit, the Volatile instincts began emerging from the deepest, darkest depths of his mind and soul. Like the darkest waters, it filled his whole mind. He now witnessed his body being controlled by this creature.

* * *

The Volatile's hand caught its first strike on one of the four men, who took little effort to take down. The smell of the blood only fueled the Volatile, now making it become even more aggressive. It charged towards another thug and pounced him. In a moment of hesitation, the two other thugs stayed away. They viewed the macabre scene play out in front of them.

The Volatile grabbed the man's face and began digging its claws into the flesh, causing the man to screech out in agonizing pain. Soon after the claws were deep enough, the creature began pulling off the face from the man, only making his screams worse. And in one final tug, the Volatile yanked off the man's face, leaving behind only a faceless man already loosing blood and his consciousness.

This whole scene just about did it for the last two thugs. They started to run away, not wanting to become victim of the monster in front of them. One escaped with his tail between his legs, but for the other man, he didn't make it out as quick.

The last thing the lone thug heard before escaping was the sound of his comrade screaming and calling for help, before a sickening crunch echoed throughout the empty building.

* * *

He witnessed it all, yet it didn't faze him in the slightest anymore.

After regaining his senses, Crane looked at the mess he had made. One man was lucky enough to be killed in a few seconds. As for the other two, they didn't have that same luck.

He had started to feel a bit sorry, but then remembered that these thugs constantly harassed and beat innocent civilians.

Now, with just a little more tranquility available, Kyle began scavenging through the crates that stood idle. Each crate contained a cornucopia of medical supplies, with a very good amount of food and miscellaneous items accompanied with them.

He did this process of going through crates for a good five minutes, finding the same things in each. Then, just as he finished looking in what he thought was the last box, Crane caught sight of one crate standing all the way at the bottom, covered by one thin, blue blanket. He removed the cloth and began opening it.

And what he saw inside had almost made him want to cry.

"Antizin. One crate of Antizin..." Crane whispered as he felt the tears of joy form. He quickly wiped them away and greedily took the crate. He hugged it like it was a child and just as he wanted to keep looking around for more crates, he heard shouts come from above the Garrison. Soon, he felt a bullet pierce is shoulder. It didn't hurt much, but he did feel it.

That was enough to send him running away. However, with his bag already stuffed with supplies, he didn't really feel any sort of sadness having to leave behind a few crates unchecked.

"My God, I can't believe it..." Kyle told himself as he saw the crate inside his mind. The snatching of this crate made this whole trip worth the time, energy, and pain.

"Brecken, this is Crane. Do you copy?" Kyle spoke into his walkie-talkie as he still ran away from the building.

" _I hear you loud and clear, Crane._ "

"You'll never guess what I just snatched from our friends over at Rais's Garrison."


	6. Chapter 6

"Antizin? You were able to get your hands on a crate?!" Brecken exclaimed in excitement and surprise. Crane had already told him the news about finding the crate. Even with just one crate, they could last a couple weeks now.

"My God, Crane! I could kiss you!" The Tower leader said. "You don't know how special this is."

Crane chuckled and replied. "Of course I know. I was sent to get a "cure". Remember?" Brecken chuckled as well. Now, he sighed in happiness.

"Crane, I would ask you to leave the supplies at our doorstep, but I don't think the residents are ready to see you yet." Brecken stated. "How about we just meet up somewhere close to the Tower?"

"Yeah, that sounds alright." Crane confirmed. "I think there's a pharmacy near one of the safe zones. Perhaps that's where I could give you the supplies."

"Sounds good enough... I'll see you there Crane."

"Ditto." Crane said right before stuffing his walkie-talkie back into his bag. He had stopped running quite some time back, when the sound of gunfire had already seized. However, now he had a new reason for running. Crane had glimpsed at his watch, only to see that time was slowly inching to night time, the same going for the sun. He had to get to the rendezvous point before he started to go ballistic.

With his newfound stamina, Kyle began sprinting. He slammed his feet into dry dirt, charging at mobs of Biters. He would occasionally use the infected as a jumping platform, allowing him to bounce high.

He ran and ran, not allowing himself to be consumed by the monster. He used his claws to climb up high platforms and used a couple of these as launch pads, shooting himself through the evening sky like a Crane. Now, in his line of sight was the road leading to the pharmacy.

With every last bit of strength, Kyle sprinted and went to the side of the building, where he saw the window to the top floor was still open wide. He grinned in delight and climbed a garbage can to get over the fence. From there, he climbed a stranded van and jumped to grab onto the ledges of the building, allowing for him to climb inside.

As he finally pulled his legs in, he plopped himself onto the floor, breathing a bit hard.

"Jesus Christ, that was tiring." Crane scoffed as he rested on the floor a little while longer. Then, when he finally felt that his muscles weren't burning in agony, the man got up and grabbed the duffel bag he used to carry the supplies. He zipped it open and began emptying it, carefully arranging the items into categories.

"Let's see... Medical supplies, food, Antizin, and miscellaneous items." Crane spoke to himself. Just as he was about to call Brecken, he heard some shuffling coming from outside. He shrugged it off, but then he heard the door from downstairs start to shake, someone impacting against the door as well. Cautiously, Crane creeped towards the window, looking down, only to be relieved to see Brecken standing outside, trying to break the door open. Crane stepped away from the window, took the hatch to the first floor, and unlocked the door that still rattled on its hinges.

Instantly, the door flung open and Brecken accidentally fell onto the floor. Kyle burst out laughing as he witnessed this, causing the other man to wave him off.

"It's nice to see you too, Crane." Brecken said, his face showing his dissatisfaction of being made fun of. However, it didn't stray him away from the happiness he still had.

It took a bit for Crane to calm down and get himself together again.

"Okay, sorry about that. I couldn't really help myself."

"It's fine Crane. But remember, that's not why I am here."

"Yeah, I know Brecken." Kyle grinned as he waved the man over to the second floor. Brecken nodded and followed after Crane, the runner using the edges of the open hatch to hoist himself up. On the top, Brecken could see the organized piles of supplies. He went over to Kyle and patted him on the back.

"You've outdone yourself Crane." Brecken's eyes almost shined at this sight. "I didn't ever think we could get some things like this again."

"It's nothing much Brecken." Kyle said. "On the contrary, I may have only scraped the surface of the supply goldmine."

"Just imagine, we could have so many things to help us and anyone who needs help!"

Brecken overheard this while going over the supplies, but he stopped when Kyle mentioned finding more supplies. He slowly got up and faced the runner.

"Mate, I know you feel great about finding these things for us." Brecken looked straight into his eyes and grabbed his shoulders. "But you have to take yourself into consideration too. We can't lose you again..."

Crane shook himself off the man and responded.

"Brecken, you don't have to worry about me." Kyle said. "I'm pretty sure I'll be fine."

Brecken massaged his temples in frustration and said something that hurt them both.

"Crane, we can't risk losing you! Look what happened to Rahim when he thought he could blow up the building!" Brecken realized what he said, but it was too late. He faced away from Kyle, but the other man just looked down in shame and pain.

It stayed quiet for a bit, but then Brecken broke the silence.

"Look Crane, I'm sorry for saying that..." The man looked away again and continued. "But you have to understand that you're probably the most valued person in this city. If it weren't for you, we'd all be dead by now. Be it from infection, Rais, or just other things."

Crane had to admit it to himself. If he hadn't even arrived at the city, it certainly wouldn't even be here anymore.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Crane bit the inside of his lip in defeat. "Maybe I should think this plan out more."

Both men just stood in their spots, not really knowing what to say, when the telltale noise of Crane's watch rang out, signaling night already striking. The runner's face held fear as he knew exactly what was going to occur.

"B-Brecken! Get out of here now!" Crane yelled as he could already start to feel the instincts rise. He fell to the floor and gripped his head in dread, his face scrunched up.

Brecken witnessed this, but he was unfazed by it.

"I can't do that mate. I know that you can beat this, but you need to find a way how." Brecken kneeled to his level, lifting the man's face in order to look straight into his eyes. What he saw was one last glimmer of sanity before the eyes only reflected light from outside sources. It wasn't Crane anymore.

Brecken backed away, but did not change his face or become shaken up.

The Volatile made a few noises before getting up and looking straight at Brecken, already beginning to grow savage. The leader watched as the Volatile inched closer and suddenly screeched straight into his face. It raised a claw, ready to strike, when Brecken raises his voice to speak.

"Kyle, I know you're in there." The voice was unbroken. "Don't do this. You have to take control. You can't let yourself be taken over. You have to help yourself now. You've failed Rahim, Jade, and countless others."

"You can't fail your own self too."

The Volatile froze completely during this moment. Kyle was fighting now.

* * *

He heard Brecken say those words, and it impacted him hard. He felt the sadness smack him in the face, yet somehow, he felt the need to avenge the death of the people who died. He needed to keep fighting.

"Jade gave me her Antizin so that I could live..." The man reminded himself as he formed his hands into fists. "And I'm not going to let her death be senseless."

The spiritual Crane began closing his eyes and tried his best to gain control of his body. Slowly, he felt like his hands were beginning to be controlled, but just as he began retracting his body's arms, the control he had just suddenly disappeared, as well as the Volatile instincts. The last thing he saw before his body shut down was Brecken's relieved face.

* * *

Brecken tried his absolute best not to flinch while the Volatile stood still.

And when he saw the tears coming out of the creatures eyes, he knew something was going on. He was just about to reach over to shake it when it suddenly released one final screech, the noise so hellish, yet pitiful. And it finally collapsed to the floor, going limp.

He felt relieved at seeing it collapse. He knew that Kyle had tried to fight back, but perhaps it may have overwhelmed his whole body. At least they knew that this worked, in a sense.

Brecken began walking up to the top floor, where the supplies were. Then, the sight of Kyle sprawled on the floor stopped him mid-climb.

" _Should I really leave him here?_ " Brecken thought. He shook his head and started going back to Crane, picked him up, and started carrying him firefighter style. He pushed the limp body onto the second floor and went up shortly after locking the door from downstairs.

Finally, Brecken leaned Crane against a wall, since there were no beds in this building. He, too, leaned against a wall, where he concealed himself in shadows, the darkness allowing for him to relax.

And the man's eyes began fluttering shut, taking in the darkness and releasing his fatigue.

* * *

 **So, I may not be able to update this as often as I can anymore. With school starting, I may be occupied more. However, I won't stop though.**

 **So, I hope you enjoyed this. Leave a review if you'd like to, be it a positive or negative one. :)**


	7. Chapter 7

" _...I don't want to die here, Crane..._ " The voice reverberated throughout the black empty ocean of darkness that Crane floated in. He tried to locate the source of the voice, and he suddenly witnessed the atmosphere change. In a few seconds, his mind had created the environment of the Tower. He stood on the roof, where suddenly, an illusion of Rahim began manifesting.

Crane felt an immense sadness take ahold of him, and had the urge to hug the kid. He knew better though. This was fake. It wouldn't do anything at all. He tried to close his eyes, but how do you do that when you're stuck inside your own head?

He looked over at Rahim again, only seeing the young man's disappointed face.

" _Not like this..._ "

"I-I'm sorry, Kid." The runner's voice vibrated in a choked sob. "I couldn't help you anymore."

And then a second voice rang out from behind him. He turned around to find Jade, her whole body mist-like. Somehow, she still appeared just as beautiful.

" _Everybody's life is finite, Crane..._ " the illusion of Jade said.

"No... no no no.." Crane said as he fell to the floor and started to back away. His face became coated in a wave of distress and pain.

" _You can't deny it..._ "

"No, it's not. My life should have been done long ago!" He yelled at the apparition. "No one could have changed what happened. It would have played out all the same. "

"I am glad you never had to experience this suffering." Crane whispered.

He then heard the voice of Dr. Zere, only adding to the torment and emotional torture.

" _Crane... Save these people..._ " Zere breathed out, his lungs using up the last of his energy. " _They don't deserve all of this..._ "

Kyle tried to block out the voices. Each one was like a hammer pounding on his head. He wanted them to stop. He couldn't take the pain. The pain of knowing that he couldn't help those that needed him the most.

" _You've got to let me save you._ "

Crane grit his teeth together. "Saving me did nothing."

" _Let me save you._ "

Crane begins to sob, letting the fat tears escape his eyes. "You shouldn't have saved me. Your sacrifice didn't help Harran at all. I probably made everything worse."

" _Just remember what you promised me..._ "

Crane stopped his sobs for one quick second. He began laughing and covered his eyes in shame.

"It was a promise I didn't really keep."

For a moment, all stayed quiet. The atmosphere had changed back to pitch black, but he felt the presence of something there. He could still hear the echoes of the voices that always stuck with him, engraved in the most sensitive parts of his brain.

" _All of this, and yet you still had your choice made for you._ " The voice. The voice of the man that was the main cause of her death. Crane could already feel his anger boiling up, making him fluster.

" _Disappointing Crane._ "

"It wasn't my choice at that point!" Kyle cried out. "I couldn't change anything, and I would never change anything. Never would I put this hell onto someone else."

And Rais's voice finally disappeared, but he still felt something. It put him on edge, and he couldn't help looking around a bit to ease his anxiety.

And a voice. The final one. The one that changed his whole life for the worst.

" _Such potential, Kyle!_ " The voice boomed all over, no source whatsoever. " _So much wasted!_ "

He could hear the acid in the Mother's voice, its effect like the strongest of poisons. He began quaking in wrath, and felt himself grow melancholy as well.

"My God... Why can't I be set free..." Crane desperately whispered as he gripped his head.

The only thing he heard was the whirlwind of voices all running through his head. It scrambled his brain and frustrated him.

"Get me out of HERE!" The man yelled as loud as he could, but it was lost in the twister of voices.

He heard their comments, their remarks, their words. They all impacted him, and all it did was make him feel more grim.

Crane began to feel hopeless, feeling a coat of dread already tightly wrapped around him. And that's when he heard the Mother comment something never spoken by her.

" _Wake up, Kyle!_ " The Mother said. Crane's eyes widened and he looked all around, not knowing what to do. " _Can't you see? If you had just listened to my plea, all of this never would have happened!_ "

"No, you can't be saying that!" His voice quivered. "I killed you. You never said this!"

" _You will see the consequences soon enough._ " The Mother spit out her last comments. " _You will regret this, Kyle Crane!_ "

* * *

Light poured into the eyes of Kyle, blinding him temporarily. He squinted a bit and began rubbing his eyes, clearing away any gound that collected in his tear ducts. Crane opened his eyes to normal size, looking around the room. His sights caught the supplies lying on the floor where they stood the night before.

He immediately stood up and grew worried. There was no sign of Brecken.

"Holy shit... Brecken!" Crane shouted, hoping to get a response. He waited a few seconds, but nobody responded.

"No, no, no, no." The man muttered to himself as he immediately went to the first floor. And there, he scanned all over, not even seeing signs of death.

"God dammit! Not AGAIN!" Crane cried out as he slammed his fists against a desktop that stood nearby. All items on it rattled and settled back into place.

Crane sighed as he fought back the urge to run away from this place, knowing very well he couldn't run away from his demons.

He couldn't run, even if he tried to.

* * *

Brecken was sound asleep, dreaming about Lena and himself. They were away on a trip to an island. He pictured the two together, finally happy, not worrying about what was truly going on in real life.

And just as he imagined him and Lena walking down the beach during sunset, a foreign noise awoke him.

His eyelids began fluttering open as he looked around. The first thing his eyes caught sight of was Crane, fully awake and desperately looking around for something. He had heard the man call his name, and it struck him. He was still hidden very well behind these shadows. Even with daylight, the runner hadn't noticed his presence.

He saw Crane jump down to the second floor, still looking for him. Brecken tried his best to keep himself quiet, not wanting to alert the man with a laugh.

He arose from his spot and stretched a bit. Brecken could still hear the sounds of rustling come from downstairs. He tip toed his way to the hatch and looked down, seeing Crane's worried face. It instantly changed to a face of anger and the man randomly slammed a desk that stood next to him.

He also cursed extremely loud, and Brecken almost lost it there. He wanted payback for being made fun of. This was probably the only chance he could get.

He began sliding down and grabbed the ledge to slow his impact. This, in turn, allowed him to land on the floor with almost no noise being produced. He turned around and saw Crane breathing in and out.

"This was payback for laughing at me." Brecken said aloud and he saw Crane stop everything. The man rapidly spun around and he didn't know what to do. He sighed in relief and began laughing with Brecken, but after a while, he grew frustrated.

"My God, Brecken!" The man yelled. "Do you get how FUCKING terrified I was?"

"I did, and now you know how we felt when you went missing."

Crane grinned while shaking his head. He then remembered about the supplies, reminding Brecken.

"That's right. I completely forgot that I'm supposed to retrieve them." Brecken said. He began chuckling, but it died down as a thought occurred to him.

"FUCK! Lena is going to be pissed!"

* * *

 **Finally, I was able to write this chapter and update the story. Anyways, leave a review if you would like to. :)**


	8. Chapter 8

"Where the HELL are you, Brecken?!" Lena howled into the walkie-talkie. She was flustered with anger towards her partner. Usually, she never was this hotheaded, but it was the fear of Brecken being hurt that ate away at her.

And currently, she showed her worry through the shouts she gave.

"Well? Explain!" Lena boomed aloud. This caught the attention of a few nearby, but she quickly got rid of them so she could have some more privacy.

" _I'm sorry, Lena. I know I was supposed to be back by nighttime, but Crane and I had some complications._ " Brecken's voice spoke through the speaker.

"What kind of complications?" The medical expert asked, her interest already being reeled in. The anger hadn't already died down to a puny flame.

" _Uh... Kyle turned last night._ " Brecken hesitantly said. " _But something has changed._ "

"Changed?"

" _Lena, Crane was able to fight back the mental infection._ " The man said. " _And although it did overwhelm his body, it shows us something. He CAN control himself, but he somehow needs to find the strength to do so, in both mind and body._ "

"Oh my God... Brecken, this is... I don't even know what to say!" Lena voice came out as a mixture of astonishment and excitement. "Bring Kyle over. I want to ask him a couple things."

Brecken agreed, leaving the woman by herself for a bit. Then, he could hear the sound of distant footsteps come through the walkie.

" _Brecken says you have some questions for me._ " Crane spoke.

"Yes, that is right." She responded.

" _Ask away._ "

She nodded to herself and began.

"Kyle, what is it like while you're not in control?" She shot her first question. She knew not to expect an immediate answer, so she waited patiently.

" _It is very unnerving._ " Crane said. " _I'm always stuck inside a sea of darkness. I always hear things while I'm in there. My mind is currently like a prison for myself. The voices pound away at my brain, and I can't do anything, except listen to the tormenting voices._ "

"Wow, that sounds very horrible." Lena said, her voice had a hint of dread. "I'm deeply sorry for you."

" _It's fine. Thank you._ "

"My next question: Do you still know what goes on when you're not in control?"

Again, no immediate response.

" _I don't really know how to explain it too well._ " The man's voice came through as a low mumble. " _It's like I see what happens, but as if it were a giant T.V. screen. I've witnessed things that no sane human being should ever even catch a glimpse of._ "

She could already hear his voice breaking and decided to stop. They did need to tackle his problem, but pushing it too far could likely make things worse.

"Crane, we'll stop right there for now." Lena said thoughtfully. "And could you perhaps get Brecken to come back? He's still needed here." Lena joked.

" _Yeah, I guess you're right._ " Crane said. " _The Tower wouldn't run as good as it is now if it weren't for him._ "

"You're right about that." The woman admitted, and both of them chuckled.

"Well, I will be on my way now, Kyle." Lena said. "Take care of yourself, and don't try to fight this on your own."

" _I will keep that in mind._ " Crane said. " _Thanks Lena!_ "

Lena sighed. She didn't know what to think about this. Just hearing about Crane turning into... That monster. It made her shiver in fear. What worried her more was the fact that he still couldn't control his infection, and both her and Brecken thought he could never do so.

He hadn't told her that he was going off for the supplies. She didn't even know he had left.

And it almost got him killed.

But Brecken had discovered something while doing this. He had helped Crane fight back the mental infection. Although not a total success, it showed that Crane could perhaps do something about this.

They would just have to wait and see what happens.

* * *

"Well, I think I am ready to go." Brecken said. "I'd better be, or Lena's gonna have me by my ass!"

That erupted a laugh from both men. A little after, they calmed down.

"I was thinking about having a talk with Lena, or maybe with the residents of the Tower."

Crane raised his eyebrow in wonder.

"About?"

"First, about you turning." Brecken said. "And the second topic would be about whether we could try and let you back into The Tower."

Crane's face was hesitant. He scratched the back of his head, not really knowing what to do or say.

"What if they don't want me back in?"

"I highly doubt that, but it's better to ask them."

"Yeah, I guess you have a point."

"Don't worry, Crane." Brecken said as he started to unlock the door leading outside. "This will work out, somehow and in some way."

The man stuck his hand out so they could shake hands farewell. Crane did the same, his hand smacking against Brecken's. They gripped their hands and both men smiled, showing each other's determination.

They freed their hands and Brecken nodded to Crane one last time before heading out the door, the duffel bag bouncing lightly as he walked away.

Kyle closed the door, leaned against it, and began thinking to himself.

"What is this going to lead to?" Crane thought. "What am I going to do?"

Not finding an actual answer to his questions, the man snapped back to reality and looked at his watch.

"8 in the morning..."

"I think I have more than enough time to grab some scattered supplies around town."

Crane went upstairs, grabbed his personal bag, checked to see if his things were inside, and headed back down. He opened the door and looked around, squinting due to the bright sun.

And he walked away from the pharmacy, going out into the city of disaster.

* * *

 **This was a somewhat short chapter because I didn't want to make this scene too long. What will happen in the future will be big though. ;)**


	9. Chapter 9

Some call them Volatiles. Others call them Nightmares. Whatever they're called, they will only have one objective on their rotten brains; Kill to eat.

And this was the mentality for all citizens of Harran. No one had ever heard of any sort of infected that did anything else besides that.

And it was a big surprise to many when thugs from The Garrison began spreading rumors of a Volatile that attacked the area. It didn't catch anyone's attention at first, but once they mentioned that the same creature used a pistol, it hooked people to hear more. Then, these thugs had told about the creature stealing supplies from the Airdrop crates.

People had started to become fearful. They would never even want to try going out during the night. Runners from The Tower almost never went out, only the bravest ones willing to do so. Now, no one had mustered up the courage to even guard the entrance. Anyone that was on the first floor had stayed, but they kept a fair amount of flares on them, in case something did decide to stumble in.

This one Volatile also sparked many theories. Some had speculated that the Volatiles may have tampered with some chemicals inside the sewers, and now they began to mutate. Others said that perhaps the creatures were starting to gain back their basic cognitive thoughts.

And only a small few had theorized the craziest thing, yet they were the only ones that were correct. These few had talked about Kyle Crane, and that perhaps he was the Volatile that was being talked about throughout the city. Everyone shrugged this particular theory off because many had believed the man to be strong enough to not become a Volatile. People still thought he was in the Countryside, where he was supposed to find a cure.

No one knew the truth. The only things they had as proof of this Volatile existing were the rumors that the thugs had spread, and a few people actually spotting the Volatile. In the span of only two days, all of Harran already knew about this Volatile.

And only one particular man was growing an idea that would perhaps determine the true fate of this Volatile. Whether it would truly break through the barrier of darkness, or be consumed and be used.

* * *

"No, please! Let me go!" The man yelled in desperation, his vision blocked by a bandana. He was currently being held hostage by a few thugs, whom awaited commands from their leader.

"We're not letting you go! We are waiting for a command from our boss."

"Please don't kill me!"

"We're not..." The same thug said. "Well, unless we get confirmation."

The thugs stood around, already beginning to grow tired of waiting around, the only thing they could hear was the man crying and yelling for help. It began irritating them, but if they defied the boss and killed him, their lives would most likely be taken as well.

"He's taking too long to respond." Another thug responded. "What if we just kill him and say that a mob of zombies attacked us and killed him?"

"No, we don't go against his orders. He needs people, but he never specified why."

"Well, he can find others. What's one person going to impact?"

"I don't know, but he can use them to his advantage." The first thug said. "He took us in awhile after Rais died. If anything, he's better than that dead fucker."

"You are right about that." The second thug admitted. "Rais was just an asshole to us. He, on the other hand, actually cares about what happens to everything he owns or has. When that Volatile took our supplies, He was furious. He was also mad that three men died."

The thugs chattered on, talking about their boss. The man that was tied up tuned in on this, but he asked himself why they only referred to their leader as "He" or "Boss".

Deciding to be brave enough, he asked them.

"Why don't you refer to your leader by a name? Does he not have one?" The hostage's voice broke through the chatter. Although it did startle the thugs a bit, they did respond.

"He doesn't have a name, at least one he uses."

"Some of us use "Boss"." The first thug said. "But only a few call him by the title given to him."

"What would that be?"

"Hunter."

* * *

Crane took off once again when he heard the sound of shouting come from an alleyway. He hadn't expected any civilians to come out during the evening, but these were a bit more bold then others.

He had been scavenging houses, trying to find anything that was useful, when he had been cornered by the group. They had recognized him as the Sentient Volatile, the one that had stolen from the Garrison.

He was lucky enough to crash through a window, where he found the chance to flee the scene. The group was still chasing him, but their shouts were slowly becoming distant now.

This had occurred multiple times throughout the span of two days. More and more survivors were spotting him, and now the rumors that were "fake" began to come true for the civilians. Brecken hadn't told anyone about him yet, so it just made matters worse. He was viewed as a threat, but that was not true. At least, during the day it wasn't.

He needed to contact Brecken, to tell him that he couldn't go out a lot anymore. One of these days, the civilians will capture him. Who knows how well that will go.

But for now, all he needed to do was run, for the group had caught up, one of them taking out a shotgun with his name on it.

* * *

Brecken sat on the chair Rahim would use when he tuned in on the radio. He was not in the real world though. Right now, he was trying to come up with a way to break the news to the Tower. It had been two days since his last encounter with Crane, but he hadn't even mustered up the courage to come up with a way to say this.

This may have been bad for both of them though because now rumors began spreading about a Volatile that attacked the Garrison. It worried him now because he had heard that a few people tried to hunt down this Volatile during the day, which is when Kyle was mostly out scavenging.

He was lost in thought, but he heard a few mumbles come from outside the Headquarters room.

Feeling the need to poke his nose into this, Brecken carefully opened the first set of doors, and walked over to the second door, where he pressed his ear to it.

"What do you mean they encountered the Volatile?"

"The runners encountered the Volatile! They found it skulking through an apartment and chased after it. I'm pretty sure they're still doing so right now."

Brecken heard this and cursed to himself. They had found Crane.

"What do you think they're gonna do with it?"

"I don't know, kill it probably. If that thing can shoot guns and use weapons, then I guess it's safe to say that it is the deadliest creature in this entire city. No one would stand a chance against something like that."

"Jesus, you're right. I hope to God that they can take that thing out. Who knows what it's next target would have been."

Brecken rushed back into the room and grabbed his walkie talkie. Instead of contacting Kyle though, he began contacting the runners that went out.

"Attention runners, report back to The Tower immediately."

Dead silence played for a bit, but then a few voices came through.

" _Not now, Brecken! We've almost caught up to this thing._ "

" _Yeah, it's almost in our grasp! We can kill this thing once and for all!_ "

Brecken snarled to himself and responded.

"No, stop! Don't kill it!"

" _Why not? It's just a Volatile. Why is it important to you?_ "

"Get back here now! You don't know the truth about that thing!"

He heard no sounds, but it didn't matter. He knew he caught their attention.

" _Okay, we're heading back, but you better explain all of this to us well._ "

"I will." Brecken sighed. "But don't tell anyone yet."

Brecken set the walkie on the table and groaned. He knew that this was going to have a really big backlash.

He sat there for five minutes, and the sudden sound of yelling caught his attention.

* * *

"Damn, this things fast!"

"Tell me about it. My lungs are on fire!"

"Wish we had Crane here. He would be able to catch up to it."

The runners chased after the creature only heard through reports and rumors. The only task they had was to obtain the whereabouts of some thugs causing a few problems near the village. That was all they had intended on doing, and perhaps collect a few items from abandoned houses. None of them had expected to find the Sentient Volatile, let alone think about killing it. However, they all knew that the creature was extremely dangerous because it had the ability to use weapons.

One gun with it could potentially wipe out the whole runner squad.

"Give me my shotgun. It's time to end this crap!" The runner in the front shouted, reaching his arm out for the firearm. When he felt the cold metal come into contact with his palm, he tugged it and aimed it straight at the Volatile. He stuck his finger on the trigger, and was about to shoot, when Brecken began talking from everyone's walkie-talkies.

" _Attention runners, report back to The Tower immediately!_ " The voice rang out. It broke the gunman's focus and he narrowly missed shooting the Volatile in the leg. He snarled in anger and aggressively grabbed his walkie.

"Not now, Brecken!" The runner said. "We've almost caught up to this thing!"

One of the other runners grabbed their walkie too and started talking.

"Yeah, it's almost in our grasp! We can kill this thing once and for all."

And what they heard startled them.

" _No, stop!_ " The sound of anger and desperation laced in the man's voice. " _Don't kill_ _it!_ "

The group of runners looked at each other in utter confusion, not knowing what to think of this situation.

They spoke once more, needing to know what the hell was going on.

 ***a little later***

"What the fuck does Brecken have to do with this?"

"You think I know? I'm just as clueless as you!"

"What if that's someone he used to know and he doesn't want to have it killed?"

"And he prefers to have it kill us? Fuck that, I'd rather live the rest of my life here knowing I did something for this hellhole."

"He can't keep this a secret any longer. Tell everyone to meet on the 19th floor. He's gonna spill everything he knows there."

"Got it!"

The runner called one of his close friends, told him what was going to happen, and hung up.

And they all knew that the news would spread like wildfire. It always did.

* * *

He heard the shouts, the complaints, the anger. It occurred to him that the runners had ratted him out to the rest of the Tower. He hadn't really expected for them to do that, but at least he had an excuse to finally tell them all.

Brecken let out a quick sigh, made himself look serious, and turned the doorknob. The door freaked open, and was immediately bombarded by the residents of the Tower.

" _This is gonna be fun...!_ "

* * *

 **I had intended on uploading this a couple days back, but procrastination can be a really big bitch. On the side note, leave a review on what you think about this story so far. :)**


	10. Chapter 10

Brecken's eyes scanned the group, trying to find the runners he had sent out. After three quick views, he found nothing but the angered faces of the people. They were all shouting at him, calling him a liar and a fake. His entire position was on the line, and he somehow needed to fix it.

"Calm down, everyone." Brecken rose his voice, but kept it at a tranquil tone. "Now, I know I'm in a sort of bad light right now but-"

"Oh, shut the hell up! Why should we believe what you say?" One man had shouted. This didn't really falter Brecken's posture, but he found himself a bit annoyed. He listened in on more comments being flung around.

"Yeah, the runners said that you didn't want to kill that Volatile that's running loose around here. Why is it so important?"

"Kill the Volatile!"

"We should kick Brecken out of here! He's putting us all in danger."

"This man has lied to us, and he will keep on doing so if we don't stop him now!"

Brecken closed his eyes and began rubbing his temples, trying his best to keep calm. He tried his hardest to keep himself serious, but if he didn't do something hasty now, he would have to suffer the consequences of tomorrow.

"Kill it!"

"Bring Crane back!"

"Brecken for the dumps!"

"Crane would have done something about this! He should be in charge!"

The mere mention of Crane had slowly pushed him now. And in one last final intake of breath, Brecken let his voice boom throughout the entire floor, startling a few of the people there.

"QUIET DOWN!" The whole floor suddenly grew silent, the sound of breathing audible. "Now listen up! Call me the names you want to call me. You can kick me out, and you can decide to want to kill the Volatile! But the thing is, we can't kill that thing!"

The chatter began again, and more questions than rude comments were shot.

"Why not?"

"It's an extremely valuable person who, even now, still provides for us all."

"Who is this so called 'Valuable Person'?"

Dead silence. It was as if time itself had stopped. Brecken could hear his own heartbeat, a drum being played rapidly.

"This valuable person... Is Kyle Crane."

The sound of confusion sprang throughout the ever growing group. Brecken could see people from the first floor already in the crowd.

"How could that be? Crane is still out in the Countryside collecting that cure."

Brecken shook his head. "No, he's not. At least, not anymore."

"What happened? Why is he... like that?"

"In the Countryside, there was a cult by the name of "The Children of the Sun", and their leader was a woman. However, this woman had suffered the same fate as Crane; She turned into a Volatile by accidentally drinking the supposed cure."

"This can't be... No infected can even comprehend basic talking."

Brecken overheard this and continued.

"This is different. This substance has altered so much about Crane, from his physical appearance, to his emotional state. The man can barely handle his own fever dreams! Yet, it has somehow kept his sanity and his mental state alive, not completely overridden by the infection. Lena and I can't even begin to comprehend how this thing works, but we are extremely glad that Crane is still alive."

The sound of chatter played once more, but it was a mix of confusion and astonishment. The people kept on talking to each other, and the voice of a child broke through.

"Can Crane come back here?"

Brecken closed his eyes. He kept himself calm and answered.

"I would say yes, but that wouldn't be telling the exact truth." The man said. "Because although Kyle can control himself, it's only during the day. At night, that is when he becomes the monster he was meant to be."

"How do you know he becomes this?"

"A couple days back, he had raided The Garrison so that we could at least survive for a while longer. When I went to obtain the items, it was already growing late so I decided to stay. He had forced me to leave, but I had to find out whether he could truly control this or not."

Brecken looked around, now seeing that everyone was listening intently. He continued.

"I witnessed it all. The change from the man of sanity to the monster of complete savagery and darkness. He screeched straight into my face when he finished, and I felt the fear crawl it's way up my spine, but I had to keep myself together. I told him not stop fighting his instincts. I forced him to hear things that had somehow given him enough strength to stop the monster from taking control. He fainted, but it worked!"

And once Brecken stopped talking, many people didn't know what to say. No one had time to react to something so astounding and terrifying. This whole retelling had just about scared everyone half to death.

And it stayed this way for a good minute, before someone finally snapped back to his senses and spoke up.

"If I could choose to let him in, I would say yes." The man said this and nodded when he finished. Many looked at him and began saying their own suggestions as well.

"Are you crazy? That man is going to kill us while we're asleep!"

"Don't think like that. Crane has, and always will be, the person who helps anyone, even when he's at his lowest."

"Ha! You made a good joke! The only thing he's going to be helping is the Volatile!"

"Stop saying these things!"

"You need to open your eyes to the dangers of this decision!"

Brecken covered his eyes and shook his head.

" _My God, what the fuck do I do?_ " The question ran through his head, but he couldn't come up with any sort of suggestion. He felt someone tugging at his shirt, but he brushed them off. And suddenly, he was turned around and came face to face with Lena.

"Brecken, what the hell do we do?"

Brecken looked her straight in the eyes, and for once in his time of leading the Tower, felt that he had lost his hope completely. He had been rung dry of it, and felt like something was impeding him from pressing forward.

Lena could see the stress and lack of enthusiasm just by seeing into his eyes. It was time for her to take matters into her own hands.

* * *

"Alright, listen up people!" Lena rose her voice to be able to be heard. "Clearly, we all have mixed opinions on this. Some of us find Crane to be an extremely lethal creature, while others still think of him as the man that he still is."

"And truth be told, he's a bit of both. However, I know for a fact that this man is still capable of controlling himself. He has helped us throughout his time here. Perhaps it is time for us to come and help him."

"So, we will stay here and make a vote. Will Crane be able to stay here and take care of the people who took him in? Or will we keep him away like the creature he was meant to be, only for us to know that he defied all our expectations?" Lena said all of this, and still, people had a negative view of Crane.

One hand rose up with one finger. Soon after, many more hands began arising from the crowd, all of them pointing one finger toward the sky. This made her become a bit more calm, knowing that many were still in support of Kyle. Quickly, she counted the number of fingers, and told them that they could put their hands down.

After the voters sunk their hands back down, others began raising their hands with two fingers instead. Although she hated to do so, Lena counted these fingers as well. Despite the fact that many people had voted "No", the number of "Yes" votes had come out as the larger of the two.

Lena breathed out, her faith in the Tower not fully destroyed.

"Alright! It's settled then. Crane is now allowed to come back to the Tower." Lena said out loud. Although some people were hesitant about the idea, they didn't oppose to it.

The medical expert turned around and saw Brecken leaning against the wall, the life within finally coming back.

"I really have to thank you for this Lena." Brecken said. "I don't know what went wrong with me. I just felt like I couldn't do anything, as if I couldn't help with Kyle's situation."

Lena shook her head and caressed the man's cheek.

"You shouldn't worry about that anymore." Lena softly spoke. "You just needed someone to help you get the message through to the people."

Brecken smiled lightly and began hugging Lena. Although it was a bit out of character for the man, he didn't care at the moment.

"Maybe we should call Kyle and tell him the good news." Lena said, her voice slightly muffled by Brecken's hug.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Brecken chuckled as he let go of the woman, taking out his walkie afterwards.

"Crane, do you copy?"

" _Yeah, I do. Is something wrong?_ "

"No. In fact, I have some good news for you."

" _Good news? That's something we don't get often._ "

"You're right about that." Brecken said in between small chuckles. "No, but listen to this. Lena and I finally got the Tower residents to vote on whether you could come back or not."

" _My guess is that a lot of them said yes?_ "

"Yes, many of them did." Said Brecken. "However, there are others that don't really like the idea of staying in the same building as a Volatile. They'll get used to it though."

"And if you want to come back, you can do so at any time. Although if you do come today, it would perhaps be a bit better. People won't be on edge wondering what you look like, act like, etc."

" _Yeah, you do make a point._ " Crane's voice crackled through the device. " _I'll pass by in about ten minutes. I'm not too far from the Tower._ "

"Ok. I'll be sure to tell the people."

" _Let's hope I don't scare anyone when I get there._ "

Brecken stifled a laugh and answered. "No, they shouldn't be as terrified anymore."

" _Heh, I doubt that._ " Crane scoffed. " _But I'll take your word for it. Anyways, I'm going now. I'll be there shortly._ "

"Ok. We'll be waiting for you."

* * *

 **The next chapter may, or may not, be a short one. The main reason for this is because a key event is coming up soon. ;)**


	11. Chapter 11

He walked out of the secret basement the building he was hiding in had. It had occurred to him that the people that were chasing him were a few Tower runners. He could hear their conversation with Brecken, and from the looks of it, the man was in some real deep shit.

And perhaps it had to do with him as well.

Crane didn't want to present himself just yet, so he hid in this basement in the meantime. When the sound of footsteps and loud chatter began fading to nothing, the man took this as his chance to finally get out.

Kyle walked out the building, looking over at the buckshot on the dirt nearby. He was almost shot, and ultimately would have been killed. Had Brecken not interrupted the runners, they would have unknowingly succeeded in killing their only hope for help and survival.

He had nothing to do, and didn't want to do anything at all now. He felt like he was unsafe now, in this desolate city of destruction and death. Crane had always been in danger of the infected and the nightmares, but had to worry about the few survivors now. Everyone was targeting him, wanting to kill him out of fear and the mentality that he was still a deadly killer, despite having a grasp of sanity.

But that's what fear did to anyone and everyone. It confused them, played with their emotions, and bended their minds.

And that's what Crane suffered through too. He felt fear towards this whole Volatile thing, and in such a fearful haste to understand the concept of the turning, he had killed an innocent group of soldiers It was gruesome, and he still played that scene in his head, not as a peaceful memory, but rather as a blunt reminder that he truly was a deadly creature.

And now he began to understand the survivors as well. They didn't even know that the infamous Volatile was Crane, but all they did know was that it could use weapons and was able to walk around during the day. Fear struck these people, and they just wanted to get rid of it somehow, not wanting to ask questions first.

Crane kept thinking to himself, not wanting to pay attention to his surroundings, but was brought back to Earth by the sound of Brecken's voice crackling through his walkie. He shuffled through his bag to find the device and listened in.

* * *

Crane didn't know what to think. He was officially allowed to come back to the Tower, but he felt a bit unsure about doing so. First of all, he didn't want to put anyone at risk. And second of all, he felt like there would be a few people that would give him crap about it. That didn't really bother him, but he knew that doing something bad would surely help those against his cause.

Kyle walked up the stairs leading to the front of the Tower, and he paused right at the doorstep. He slowly breathed in, trying to calm himself down a bit, and took his first step back into his "home". Not exactly a perfect home, but it was better than nothing.

He headed to the ledge that allowed him to hoist himself up to the first floor, and was expecting to find a few people scattered around the room. Instead, the entire floor was vacant, even the Quartermaster not in his usual spot. It struck him as odd, but he knew that perhaps they were all on the 19th floor, awaiting his arrival.

" _Well, let's not disappoint them now._ " Crane stated to himself, walking over to the elevator and calling it down. Once it arrived, he walked in and slowly rose to the 19th floor.

The elevator doors slid open and revealed a couple of men pointing their guns straight at him. Unfazed, he began walking out of the small compartment, the men still aiming their sights at him. Many people had already begun rushing to the elevator, the fence being the only thing blocking them from reaching him.

He could hear them all talking to each other, crude remarks being made, judgements being thrown, and empathy only being shown by a select few. Crane still stood unfazed, only waiting for Brecken or Lena to come.

And that's when he saw two people shoving their way through the crowd, making out the familiar yellow shirt and the bandaged head, as well as the recognizable blue medical attire. The two had finally stepped out and shown themselves, and it somewhat relieved Crane to see them here. These two were the only ones that truly wanted to try and understand his situation, and tried their best to help him with it.

When Brecken and Lena closed the distance between themselves and Crane, many gasps were heard from the crowd. Still not fully convinced, a few began rushing back to their rooms and closed the doors. Kyle saw this happen, and decided that perhaps it was time to use his telepathic powers. He hadn't ever used them, but perhaps he could try.

He focused his mind on doing so. And just as he felt like nothing wasn't going to occur, he felt like he was speaking into a microphone that connected to the people's brains.

" _Hey, it's me, Kyle Crane._ "

The voice rang inside the brains of these people, and now everyone was deeply afraid and concerned. The few people that locked themselves in were now running out, screaming about hearing a voice in their head.

" _I know you all think that I'm dangerous._ " Said Crane. " _And honestly, it's not entirely false. I have killed people, both as a human and as a Volatile. I did it so that I could survive and help you all live another day._ "

" _And perhaps a few of you may not want me here, but unless you've got a runner that's willing to do the jobs I've done, I think you may have a problem on your hands._ "

Many already began to truly realize that Crane was a helpful hand, and would always be one unless he died or had completely turned. He knew this, and used that card to make them feel guilty. It was a risky move, but it had worked. A lot of the people in the crowd had started to feel ashamed for wanting to get rid of him.

" _So, before I go back to running a few errands, do any of you have any questions for me?_ " A big mistake on Crane's part because now he saw people's faces brighten up and was starting to get bombarded with a ton of questions.

"Jesus Fucking Christ..." Crane grumbled to himself, knowing that this was going to take longer than he had previously thought.

* * *

Crane finally had the chance to head back to his room. He hadn't expected to be kept there for such a long time, and it made him tired. He wasn't up for doing those errands he had anymore, he just wanted to plop onto his bed and knock out. Many people had decided to close their doors, and the few people that occupied the same apartment number with him didn't sleep there either. No one wanted to take their chances, and wouldn't do so for quite a while. He wasn't bothered by it because he knew that he wouldn't want to sleep with a Volatile either, at least when he was still human.

Crane finally laid down on his makeshift bed. He kicked his boots off, finally relieved of the day's duty. He covered himself in a blanket, and let his eyes flutter shut, his body finally resting a bit.

* * *

Darkness, yet again. Crane was back inside his mind once more. There was no projection of the outside world, so he knew that his body truly was asleep and not running around, causing destruction. He couldn't hear or see anything out of the ordinary. It was still pitch black, with only a few memories of his being lit by a dim light.

And then a small light lit up in front of him. Rahim began appearing in front of him, and he looked normal. He wasn't infected. The man faced him and looked tranquil, almost as if he were truly in a happy place.

And suddenly, Rahim face contorted into a senseless anger, and Crane stepped back a bit.

" _Why didn't you save me?_ "

"No... not you too." Said Crane. "I could have saved you. You never told me that you were bitten!"

" _It's because you're inexperienced! You let me die, along with Jade, Zere, and countless others! You're just another noob._ " Venom was mixed in with the words Rahim spoke. Crane looked away, but wherever he faced, Rahim would already be there. And he began swiping away at the young man, trying to make him go away. His hands phased right through him, but it worked. The apparition had finally gone.

He knew that his mind wasn't done with him yet. Someone else was ready to come now.

" _You failed us all, Crane. You didn't get a cure. All you did was retrieve a poison that will end us all!_ "

Crane glanced to his right and found Jade standing there, her face in a scowl. She walked up to him and it felt like she pushed him down. She planted her foot onto his chest and began putting pressure. She slowly put her face up close to him and spoke once more.

" _You are a failure, Kyle Crane! Working for a secret organization and then dooming us all!? Pathetic!_ "

"No, you never said this! You're not the real Jade!"

" _You can't understand you're own situation, and you won't ever get rid of this darkness. You're just a shadow of a dying light, and soon you'll become part of the eternal darkness._ "

Crane crouched down, tucking his head into his knees. He tried his best to keep calm, reassuring himself that these things that were speaking weren't real at all. Every new word spoken wasn't real, it was just his mind bending everything and making him seem at fault.

The voices kept coming, smacking away at the inside of his mind. It hurt him, both physically and mentally. He could slowly feel himself starting to awake, as he was beginning to feel himself fade away from his mental space. The voices didn't stop though. They kept tormenting, and it finally made him wake up.

* * *

Crane jolted awake, his body slick with sweat. His shirt was damp and wet, and his face was covered in a thin layer of sweat as well. He grabbed his shirt and wiped the bodily fluid off, still a bit shaken up by the intense fever dream.

Kyle got up and went to the bathroom, first doing his business, then wetting his face a bit to try and relax. He looked at the mirror, the reflection of a horrifying creature staring back at him. He could see that a lot of his hair was gone, a few lone patches scattered here and there. His skin had stopped peeling off, but it left spots where flesh was being exposed. He looked very similar to a Volatile, yet still had traces of his normal self. With his jaw still intact, he had kept his facial features. The only things that set him apart were the flesh patches, bits of hair left intact, and his bloodshot eyes.

Not wanting to look at himself anymore, Crane turned off the light to the bathroom and headed back to his room. He laid back on his bed again, but couldn't go back to sleep. His eyes looked at the roof, but his mind had already wandered away.

" _You're just a shadow of a dying light, and soon you'll become part of the eternal darkness._ "

Crane closed his eyes, and could still hear those words. Jade had said them, but he could hear hints of The Mother in her voice. It was as if both voices had mixed together to create a horrible hybrid. It chilled him right to the marrow, and he still couldn't get over it.

Kyle couldn't stay in one spot anymore. He needed something to keep his mind away from the fever dream. He slipped his boots on, changed his moist shirt for another dry one. And he began heading out. He headed to Brecken's room, briefly explaining to the groggy man that he needed to clear his mind a bit.

Although he didn't seem too keen on letting Crane out, he couldn't really argue. Brecken finally said yes, but told the man to alert him on anything out of the ordinary.

And finally, Crane was running out of the Tower, sliding his trusty machete out and ready to kill some zombies.

* * *

"Sir, do you think this is a good idea."

"Yes. I don't want those people using my supplies anymore."

"What about the explosives? Do you think it's enough?"

"If they were able to take down that Volatile nest with the same explosives, then I think they'll do just fine."

"Ok. I'll be sure to alert the others about the plan."

"Yes, go do that." The man spoke. "And next time, don't hesitate to call me 'Hunter'."

* * *

 **This whole story's plot line is somewhat scaring me now.**

 **So, while I go cry because of what's coming in this story, leave a review about what you thought about this chapter. :')**


	12. Chapter 12

Days had finally slowed to an endless crawl, for Crane at least. Brecken was always busy with doing things for the Tower, Lena had been occupied as well due to taking care of sick bay patients, and nobody ever really talked to him. He had already felt this loneliness inside his mind, where his own thoughts lashed out at him in an atrocious method.

And now, he was finally assigned a small mission. A little kid had apparently lost his action figure while playing on the rooftop. It fell off the building and could have landed anywhere. Finally having a chance to kill some time, Crane agreed to search around for the toy.

Here he was now, carefully looking around for any signs of the action figure. And just as he felt his patience starting to wear thin, he spotted something near some trash; a red cape. As Crane closed the distance from the object, he could see the sunlight glinting off the plastic of the toy. He picked it up, and began heading back to the Tower's entrance, when his hearing picked up a foreign sound. He listened more closely, and it began to sound like someone talking into a walkie-talkie.

Beginning to suspect, Crane began searching around the entire premises, trying to find the source of the noise. And there, on the street next to the Tower, stood a thug, his sights directed at the building. Needing to find out more, Kyle began sneaking towards the thug, trying his best to blend in with his surroundings. And thankfully for Crane, a Biter had grabbed the thug's attention, making him turn around for a short time.

Crane took advantage and began running, hiding behind a van. And when the thug finally killed the Biter, he began talking again.

"Do you really think we could pull this off. I mean, what if Brecken sends a few runners out on a night run?"

" _Highly unlikely. I don't think he does night runs anymore, ever since he lost the last of his previous runners on His night run._ "

"Good. At least we can finally get rid of these Tower fuckers."

" _Yeah, the Tower trash residents will finally become a literal pile of trash and rubble!_ "

And for a few seconds, silence rang out. Crane was about to surprise attack the man and interrogate him, but he began talking again.

"Do you think we have enough explosives to take down the entire building?"

" _They were able to take down that Volatile nest using the same explosives. I think they'll do the trick._ "

"Yeah, you're right. Let's just hope we can do this job without any problems arising."

And that about did it for Crane.

In no time, Kyle began running out of his hiding spot and jumped into the air, landing right behind the man. The thug flinched violently and spun around rapidly, his face turning white at the sight in front of him. He began turning around to run away, when Crane gripped the man's shoulders and shoved him hard onto the floor. In desperate fear, the thug started to crawl away, not wanting to become a victim of the monster.

Crane planted a foot on the thug's chest and the man under him began to sob fearfully. Now, the interrogation began.

"What the fuck do you mean by taking down the Tower?" Snarled Crane, his face contorting into a ghastly mask of horror. Despite the fear the thug held, he also showed astonishment.

" _Holy shit... it actually talks._ " The man whispered to himself.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"God dammit, answer me, you fucker!"

The man began to cry even more, but was able to hiccup some words.

"Okay, I-I'll tell you! Just please, don't kill me!"

"Get on with it then. I don't have all day."

After a few more hiccups and some heavy breathing, the thug finally mustered a bit more courage to continue.

"Okay. Our group has planned on taking down the Tower. We were going to bomb it, and hope that everyone, especially that fucking prick, Kyle Crane, would go down with it."

One small chuckle, and Crane suddenly slammed an open palm right next to the man's head, startling him.

"I don't appreciate being called a prick."

"Holy fuck, you're Crane!?"

"Yes, but that's not important right now. What I need are answers!" Said Crane. "And who's this group you're with. You look like the remnants of Rais's gang, or Kaan's failed attempt at restoring the group."

"No, I'm from neither. I used to be a part of Rais, but then he died. Then, a bunch of our men decided to go to the Countryside after hearing that you did so too. They met that guy you mentioned, Kaan. From what I heard and what you just said, they didn't make it."

"However, there were still a bunch of other men who didn't tag along. We stayed here, just surviving with the supplies that were stockpiled. Then, one of them decided to try and get things back up. We didn't even know who he was, since he was barely one of the new recruits. No name, no background, nothing. Yet, he was able to give himself the title of "Boss" and succeeded in doing so."

Crane gave a confused expression.

" _Boss?_ " The word echoed in his head. He shook the thought away and continued.

"Are you all still settled in the Garrison?"

"Why? What do you plan on doing?"

"Nothing yet."

"Y-Yes, we're still settled there. We haven't tried leaving that place."

Kyle nodded lightly and began mumbling to himself.

" _Jesus Christ, more fucking leaders. I hoped it would have stopped with Kaan._ " Kyle continued to run the new info in his mind when the sound of talking snapped him back again.

"You're the one who took our things. You took an Antizin crate..."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Hunter... He's pissed. Pissed about the whole thing."

"Oh yeah? Tell him he can stick my middle finger up his ass."

Giggling began erupting from the thug. He was growing insane due to the fear and the shock.

"Hunter says that he heard from a little birdie that the Tower recently got Antizin, so he speculated that the Volatile that took the supplies got killed and grave robbed. I guess he was wrong." The thug said, eyes widened fearfully and alert.

"He doesn't want to have the Tower taking his things so we decided to bomb it. We still have many explosives in the school, so why not?"

"And as for you...? He's going to come looking for you. He is going to find out that you're still alive." The thug began laughing hard, his throat already becoming sore. When the laughs died down, the man continued, his voice raspy.

"He has plans for you, Crane. He stopped after thinking you were killed, but now he will continue. His new weapon will finally become a reality! You poor fellow, unknowingly falling into Hunter's trap. Then again, hunters always catch their prey."

"He's going to catch you, use you, and finally make you his own!"

Crane felt himself grow frustrated now. He didn't want to allow himself to be used. He was used by the GRE first, then he was unknowingly manipulated by Rais. The Mother had also decided to use him as the one to call forth the God of the Sun. People used him, and they all affected him in some way. He didn't want to become a victim of another tragedy.

He was about to ask a couple more questions to the thug when he felt the infection start to edge itself into his mind.

"No, not now...!" Crane formed his hands into fists, scrunching his face and grinding his teeth together. And for a split second, he saw himself back inside the darkness of his mind. As rapidly as it had appeared, it left and the light of day came back.

He needed to leave, or else he would turn.

" _Okay Kyle, take it easy... Just some baby steps._ " The runner whispered to himself and began doing what he told himself, but just as he started, the feeling came back. He groaned in anger and his vision began to blur and had an orange tinge to it. He couldn't move anymore. The only thing he had control of now was his vision and mind. But, they too, would be taken away from him momentarily.

And finally, Crane saw the light finally fade to nothing, and he felt himself plunge into his mind.

* * *

The thug didn't know what to do. Everything had suddenly become terrifying and dark for him. His mind couldn't handle so much in such a short time that he finally cracked.

And then he witnessed Kyle Crane begin to turn into the monster he was, yet the thug had no fear anymore. He saw it all, up to where the Volatile finally took over. It approached him, and it grabbed him by the head. Pressure was applied, and the thug wanted to scream. He could feel the pressure turn into pain, but now he couldn't scream. He had finally lost himself, and what the Volatile was killing now was the shell of a man.

And now the only sound the produced was a sickening crunch, the sound of eating reverberating through the street afterwards.


	13. Chapter 13

"Crane..."

"Crane, wake up..."

"Hey, wake up bud."

Crane felt his senses start to come back to him, and he finally opened his eyes. His sights locked onto Brecken, who was crouching right next to him. Kyle began getting up, propping himself up using his arms. As he did so, his head was suddenly shot with intense pain.

He cringed and began gripping his head.

"Jesus... My fucking head." Groaned Crane. Brecken began talking again.

"You've been out cold for a while now." Stated Brecken. "Some of the scouts spotted you outside the Tower, unconscious, bloody, and bits of gore stuck to your hands and face. We also found a thug's half-eaten corpse nearby as well. The puzzle pieces were connected, and we took the hint that you... ate him."

Crane's eyes widened at hearing Brecken say that he had eaten flesh. Human flesh. His body began heaving, his stomach beginning to shoot its content back up. And in a few moments, Crane had gotten to his feet and rushed behind a car, where a pile of vomit began to collect on the floor. Unfortunately for Crane, he could still see the bits of flesh, and he felt himself grow sick, not physically, but mentally.

" _Death, death, and more death!_ " Kyle mentally shouted at himself. " _Everything I've done hasn't been making things better. Aside from killing innocent people for nothing, that fucking creature now resorts to eating away at its prize too. Fucking Christ!_ "

He paced around the street, cussing and arguing with himself, when he suddenly felt a hand plant itself into his shoulder. He stopped in his tracks and turned around, to find Brecken's face of sympathy.

"There's nothing you could have done to avoid doing this Kyle." The man told him, but Crane's face was still covered in self-anger. "You can't keep blaming yourself for every little bad thing that happens. Sometimes, you just have to accept what occurs in your life, be it good or bad." Brecken comforted Crane as best as he could. He heard the runner grunt in frustration, but a sigh of defeat was released soon after.

"You're right. I do blame myself for what has happened in here." Crane said. "I blamed myself for Jade's death, for the Mother's death, and I even blame myself for Rahim's death at times too. I can't accept that I failed to help them with their greatest problem."

"You've got to let that dead weight go Kyle." Brecken now grabbed both of the man's shoulders, trying to get the point across. "It wasn't your fault. Rahim sacrificed himself for you to destroy that hive. Jade let you take her Antizin for you to change the course of this city, to finally kill off this bloody virus. And the Mother, she had to be killed, or else we wouldn't be able to truly discover what this elixir does."

"Just understand Crane, that these people asked for your help, but they had to let themselves go for you to keep going, except for the Mother. I'm pretty sure she just didn't want you walking away from there with her supposed cures."

Kyle chuckled and gave the true answer to that.

"No, she didn't want to let me go because she didn't want anyone else to go through what she had to go through. Sometimes, I tell myself that perhaps I should have taken her advice, but then I stop thinking about that because she also wanted me to nuke the entire area."

"It's a good thing you didn't take that alternate route. God knows how many people would have been killed with that nuke."

Both men scoffed that thought away, and now stood in the middle of the street.

"There's something else we need to do, Brecken." Kyle said. "Before I killed the thug, I heard him talk to some other guy. They talked about bombing the Tower, in hopes of taking it down with all of us inside. Their leader wants revenge for us taking away his Antizin."

Brecken's eyebrows went down in confusion as he listened.

"Leader? I thought they didn't have one since Rais."

Crane shook his head. "This other guy in the Countryside called Kaan banded them back over there. He was the one who ordered those bandits to steal the elixirs."

"But that isn't the point though. This leader is different. He goes by the name of Hunter, and from what I hear, he doesn't like anyone else interfering with his group."

"And he wants to use me. I don't know for what, but that thug I killed kept on telling me that I was falling into Hunter's trap, and that he was finally going to get his new weapon."

Brecken nodded while listening intently. "When?"

"When what?"

"When is he going to bomb the Tower?"

"I have no clue. I want to say that he may strike today, or possibly tomorrow. The thug was talking with another guy, and from what it sounded like, they were prepared already."

"Then they'll do it today." Brecken said. "Hunter doesn't seem like the guy to ring something out as slow as possible. He probably just wants to take down the Tower as fast as possible, with hopes that we won't interfere with his plan."

Crane nodded I agreement.

"We have to gather up the remaining runners, have them help us stop the ambush." Kyle said. "The bad part is that this may have to be done tonight. I don't know how we're going to include me into this plan."

Brecken then included his own idea. "How long can you hold the infection down?"

Crane paused, trying to carefully understand his question.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, how long can you keep yourself from being pushed away?"

He made a small, discomforting noise while trying to estimate how long. "I want to say about a couple minutes."

Brecken heard this and cursed under his breath.

"But in the light, I have a bit more control." Kyle included. "However, my infection is stronger than the Mother's, so I can't keep it down for long."

"That's fine, just as long as you're still able to keep yourself together."

The two men began walking back to the Tower, the wind caressing away at them, their clothes dancing with the breeze. Kyle then spoke once more.

"If something goes wrong with this plan Brecken, just know that I was glad to have helped the people in this place." He stated, his tone serious and distraught.

Brecken looked over and lightly punched the man on the arm. "Don't speak random crap like that; it doesn't suit you. You should be the one giving us all the hope to live another day."

Crane snickered and spoke. "That's not really my type of job, but if it helps the others, then I guess I'll do that."

Both men chuckled as they went in through the entrance of the Tower, Brecken patting Kyle on the back as a friendly gesture.

* * *

"Bombs are ready to be planted, sir!"

He looked at the man who told him this, and nodded in delight.

"Good." Hunter said, his voice filled with excitement and pride. "Call the others. Tell them to report back here as soon as possible. We need to do this by nightfall."

The recruit shook his head and began heading away, broadcasting the news to all the other recruits in Hunter's new gang.

The leader watched as he walked away and looked up at the ceiling. He clapped both of his hands and laughed to himself.

"Your time is up Kyle Crane..."


	14. Chapter 14

Crane re-counted the amount of ammo he had for his police rifle, pump shotgun, and the pistol that once belonged to his dreaded enemy; Rais. After having a short meeting with Brecken and a few other runners, the plan was to just wait until the thugs began to appear. They initially wouldn't attack since Hunter's planned seemed to be one meant for laying low, but that would be changed very soon. The band of thugs would be ambushed, forced to push away the bomb planting plan in order to fight away enemy forces.

And now, the scenario played in Crane's mind, but he saw mistakes being made, good people being killed. It slightly scared him that anything could happen to any of them, from him, to Brecken, even to the runners that were okay with joining the plan. He didn't want anymore of the Tower people dying, but Kyle knew that they needed to do this, for the sake of them all.

He finally stopped counting the ammo and stuffed it back into his bag. He also grabbed his pistol, shoving it in his pocket. Kyle grabbed his rifle and shotgun, taking them down to the 1st floor for a couple others to use.

Crane began to head out of his room, when he remembered about his UV Flashlight, the one thing that could potentially keep him in a sane state. He put that in his bag too, keeping it at the very top for quick access.

Now, Kyle began striding over to the elevator, firearms in hand, and the willpower to defeat his enemy coursing through his veins.

* * *

The scouts were discussing their location of their positions when Crane finally arrived. He set the rifle and shotgun on the floor, listening in on the ragtag group.

"So, I hide near the front entrance staircase right?" One man said. The others nodded, and another man continued. "And I blend in with the trash bags we brought in."

Kyle interrupted their chatting to ask a question.

"Do any of you know where Brecken is?"

"He should be in Alfie's usual spot. From what I've seen, he's just prepping his weapons for the attack." One of the runners explained.

"Ok thanks."

Kyle began walking to the room that Brecken was supposedly in, but as he walked away, he heard a few crude remarks coming from the other runners.

" _How the hell are we going to do this with him tagging along?_ "

" _I don't know, but I'm worried that he's just going to end up killing us instead._ "

" _Exactly! Why does Brecken think that Crane will keep himself together? He's still a monster, even if he's half sane._ "

Crane felt himself grow frustrated, yet also felt guilt and shame. He was still being judge for what he became, despite the fact that he was in his right mind. It angered him to know that people still felt that way, but the shame of being pushed away and being treated like a creature was butting in as well.

"Pulling my ass around for assholes like them..." Kyle cursed under his breath. "Whatever, they'll change their tune soon enough. Fucking hypocrisy at its finest!"

Crane had continued walking to Brecken's location, opening the room's door to find the man staring out the window, his fists on his waist.

"Hey Brecken." Kyle said. "What are you doing?"

The leader glanced back and turned his sights back to the window. He chuckled a bit and answered the runner's question.

"Nothing much, bud. Just thinking." Brecken stated. "Anything you need?"

"No, not really. I just wanted to see if you were already ready."

"Hmm... Ready as I'll ever be." Brecken scoffed. "It's almost time. The sun is close to setting, and it's 19:47. Tell the other runners to meet up at the front Tower entrance; I'll be there shortly."

Crane began to walk away, but the man said something, stopping him mid-walk.

"Don't pay attention to what the others say Crane." Brecken said in a serious tone. "Jut cause you look like a monster, doesn't mean you are one. You still can't control this yet, but I know for a fact that somehow, you'll pull through the darkness and the dread."

Crane stood in the same spot, a bit mesmerized by what Brecken said, but he quickly snapped back to normal. And, out of complete respect for what the leader said, Kyle headed over to the man and gave him a quick hug.

Brecken was caught off guard by the move, but he didn't neglect it.

"Bit out of character, don't you think?"

"At this point, I think people would be more worried as to whether I can still keep my monster at bay."

Brecken laughed at spoke. "You got me there."

The sun was slowly hiding away, it's blessed beams of light slowly dying away as the horizon ate away at the beams. And this was the signal for the two men to finally begin the plan.

* * *

"Get that box and take it!"

"Yes, sir!"

He looked out at the crowd of thugs, Hunter's thugs. He had been given orders by the man: Be as stealthy as possible and plant the bombs, then leave the premises and watch the show from a distance.

"Serkan, the bombs are in the vehicle! We are ready to leave."

The man nodded in approval and excused the thug from the area. He quickly walked in to the Garrison, where a lone man awaited near the entrance.

"What's the status Serkan?"

"We are ready to go. The bombs are in the vehicles, but we just need to wait until night falls."

"Good. Hunter should be free of item-snatchers by tomorrow."

"You've got a point there Berk." Serkan said. "Ok, call Yavuz and Soner. Tell them to just stay with Hunter, at least until this fucking situation is finally dealt with."

"Only we're going right?"

"Yeah. Hunter doesn't need all four of his henchmen dying in the battlefield. If two of his legs fall, he still has two more to keep his table of leadership somewhat stable."

Berk nodded in approval and began heading to the radio, where he sent a message to Hunter.

"Hunter, it's Berk. Tell Yavuz and Soner to stay put with you. We'll do this job, quick and easy."

" _Thank you for informing me._ " Hunter's voice came back. "And don't fail this mission."

"We won't."

" _Ok, but if I find out that the building is still up by tomorrow sunrise... You, Serkan, and I will be having a chat inside the Pit._ "

Berk felt a lump of anxiety and fear beginning to form in his throat. He had trouble swallowing down his feelings as he responded.

"Y-yes sir..."

And as Berk finally stopped the communication, he sighed in defeat.

"Hopefully this goes as planned."

* * *

"How far till we get to the Tower?" Berk asked. "Being out at night still terrifies me, even if we're supposed to act mean-spirited."

Serkan grunted in amusement and spoke. "We're about to arrive." He said as he looked over at the man, with one eyebrow raised sarcastically. "Don't be afraid of the darkness of the night. Be terrified of what can reside in it."

Berk brushed the comment aside, but he could hear it echo in his head.

" _Don't worry Berk, you'll be alright._ " The man told himself. " _It's just a quick mission. We can do this._ "

And just as felt himself calm down a bit, the yellow van came to a halt. Nearby, the Tower stood in its spot, vulnerable to the bombs the men were going to plant.

Serkan nudged Berk in his side, signaling for him to come along. The man nodded and began to get out of the vehicle, with a few thugs already grabbing some bombs.

Everyone began to huddle in a group as Serkan briefly explained what needed to happen.

"Okay, now that we're here, we need to be as careful and sneaky as possible." Serkan whispered. "If a Volatile stumbles upon you, use your Flares. If a Viral, Biter, or Night Walker gets to you, take them out as quick as possible. Finally, if a person from the Tower catches any one of you, take them out as soon as possible. If all else fails, we blow whatever bombs have been planted."

The group of thugs, along with Berk, nodded in agreement. They began to dissipate in different directions, each person taking a different location on the outside parts of the Tower.

Berk ran to a vacant spot on the building, where he began to put the bomb in place. As he positioned it in the right spot, his hearing caught the sound of sudden gunfire. He grabbed his pistol from the belt he had, and began to head towards the source of the noise.

* * *

"Shoot them down!" Brecken shouted as he, too, began firing away at the thugs. "Shoot the bombs they have!"

And the runners did as they were told. Bullets flew back and forth, and in several occasions, a bullet was extremely close to piercing a hole through one of the Tower people.

Brecken aimed his sights on one thug with a bomb, and shot. The end result was a massive explosion, along with a cloud of blood spraying droplets all over.

He saw a couple runners do the same, and more clouds of the red fluid began to appear. One by one, the hugs were falling. Hunter's plan had been sabotaged.

And just as Brecken thought that perhaps this was it, he could see more thugs beginning to charge at them with melee weapons in hand.

The leader thought of using more bullets on them, but then remembered their final asset.

"Runners, head back inside the Tower, IMMEDIATELY!" Brecken shouted into his walkie. He looked around, finding the runners rushing back inside the building. They all knew what was about to happen.

Brecken began running to the back of the Tower, where Crane had stayed put. When the man arrived, he found the man in a horrible state.

Kyle had begun sweating profusely as he gripped his head, all the while, mumbling random things to himself.

"Get away from me...!" Crane shouted at nothing. "Don't come closer! You're not real! I am still in control, and you're wrong as shit!"

Brecken crouched down to the other man's level. "Crane, snap out of it. You need to get yourself together."

"Get the hell away from me!" Kyle snapped at the Tower leader, pushing him away in a rush. "You're the true monster here!"

Brecken had no other choice. It had to come down to this. The man put his mouth close to Crane's ear and whispered.

* * *

Kyle witnessed flashes of his horrifying memories, from Rahim turning, to Jade being killed. It hurt his head, grinding away at his skull. And now The Mother began to appear in front of him, even after he had tried to shout at her, which had made her fade away the first time.

" _Why didn't you save them Crane?_ " The Mother's voice reverberated in his head, and also traveled its way from his ear to his brain. " _You failed your friends, those who needed you the most._ "

And that hit Kyle hard. He felt his chest ache in emotional pain, and now felt the darkness of the virus beginning to shove his own thoughts away.

And before blacking out, Crane saw through half closed eyes as The Mother began to reform into Brecken.

* * *

Brecken began sprinting away as he saw Crane knock out, knowing very well that the Volatile was due to arrive very shortly.

And just as he began to close the distance between him and the Tower entrance, he heard the sound of loud footsteps coming from behind him. Brecken leaped to the side as the Volatile pounced at the man, narrowly missing him.

And as the monster began to approach him, the sound of the thugs had caught the Volatile's attention, making it run over to the direction of the foreign noise. Brecken took this chance as his and began to run inside, where he stood at the very entrance. He saw as the UV Lights reflected off his skin, and felt himself become relieved.

Brecken began to hear screams, shouts, and screeches of terror, madness, and pain. The final thugs left over we're finally being taken down by Crane.

After a few minutes, the sounds had finally died down to almost nothing. Occasionally, he heard a shout, and also heard the sound of a vehicle starting up and driving away.

But what Brecken didn't expect, was to find the Volatile sprinting head on, straight in his direction. The creature came to a complete stop once it was face to face with the man.

It sniffed away at him, it's orange, bloodshot eyes scanning his every move. Brecken could see the smoke beginning to rise up from the Volatile's skin, the UV Lights burning away at the flesh.

It sniffed once more, and began to growl with uncertainty. Brecken watched with eyes as wide as dinner plates, the scene playing in front of him. The Volatile sniffed and scanned one last time, and growled in defeat.

And as it began to walk back out of the lights, it began to mutter a couple words.

"A-ahm... s-sssaarr-ee-ee" The words came out like marmalade, but Brecken could distinctly hear two words. He looked into its eyes, and saw them filled with light, the kind that Crane held. And just as he knew that the runner had begun to get some control over his body, the light had instantly turned into nothing. The monster screeched at him once more, before sprinting away.

Brecken walked over to a nearby wall, where he collapsed to the floor.

"Jesus fucking Christ..." He said, his mind becoming cloudy. "What the hell just happened?"


	15. Chapter 15

Berk leaped over the oozing corpses of the men he had begun to get along with, many faces he would never see in the Garrison again. He could see the bullet wounds, scratches, and gashes on each body as he fearfully pointed his flashlight around.

"May Allah bless your poor souls..." Berk whispered as he pushed forward, eventually coming across the van that he rode on. He looked inside, finding nobody. The man grabbed his walkie and began to contact Serkan.

"Serkan, this is Berk. Where are you?"

"Gathering the last of our men." The other man's voice crackled through the speaker. "There aren't many alive anymore. I've only found four others in total."

"Listen, we have to leave right now. That thing is still around, and who knows what else it's capable of doing."

Berk looked around with worry as he spoke into his walkie. "Yeah, I think that's a good idea."

The man shoved his walkie back into his pocket and began to head into the van. Once inside, he sat in miserable silence.

" _What will Hunter do?_ " Berk said to himself.

* * *

He saw Brecken's astonished face, and with just the last little bit of strength, he apologized.

Crane's words dripped out very slowly, but they were still audible. And just as he had finished his apology, the infection had pushed him right back to the emptiness. The projection of the outside world began to fade into view once more. He could see and hear things, yet he was imprisoned within his own mind.

However, things had begun to change. Crane had discovered that he could intercept the infection's control, momentarily gaining his body back for a little bit. Although it only worked for a few seconds, it encouraged him to try harder, to break through the wall he was stuck behind.

And he wanted to do so once more, but each time he tried, he could feel something malevolent lash out at him, putting him right back to square one. However, each time he kept trying, the feeling had begun to shrink away a tiny bit.

It was just a matter of time before he could begin to control body parts, but for now, he needed to pass through this.

* * *

"He's just going to stay out there, let loose like a dog." Lena said sternly, making Brecken feel just the tiniest bit of shame.

"Yeah... There's really... nothing else we could do with him at the moment." The leader said. "So we'll just have to wait until Kyle can come back to his senses."

"That will take all night!" Said Lena. "And Crane still needs to deliver the elixirs to Dr. Camden!"

The doctor let loose a sigh of impatience. "Once this entire situation is dealt with, we're sending him back to Sector 0 to drop the elixirs."

"Yeah, we'll do that." Brecken said. "Let's just hope he can make the trip there in the dark..."

* * *

The Volatile's feet stomped on the floor, making pieces of trash fly in different directions. It sniffed out for prey, the smell of rich, crimson blood making it drool in hunger and delight. Soon enough, the creature's beard was coated in a slimy blanket of slobber.

It kept on looking around, not finding any signs of living humans. It could feel itself grow irritated from the lack of killing. The other thing ticking off the monster was the constant banging it felt inside its head.

The human was trying to fight its way back into its body, but the creature wasn't ready to give in just yet.

It sniffed once more, and its nose caught the very faint scent of sweat and blood. It let out a hellish screech of bloodlust and began to charge in the direction of its newfound prey. It licked away at its lips, already tasting the red liquid in its mouth.

The sound of grunts and mumbling lead it towards a small group of men, oblivious to the creature that resided nearby.

In one quick swipe of an open hand, the Volatile's claws impacted the backside of the nearest man. He screamed in agony, the blood flowing from the laceration. It began to pool around the man as he painfully wriggled on the floor. The four other men stood by, watching in horror as the creature kneeled down and began to dig its teeth into the still-living man. However, their fear was short lived as they began to take out their guns, instantly shooting away at the Volatile.

The thing felt the pain of the metal pellets bursting into its body, but the frustration had turned into a red-hot anger. The pain had subsided to almost nothing as it slowly stepped towards the men, a storm of fury pushing it forward.

As it finally came within the personal space of the men, the Volatile swiftly leaned its face towards the man dressed in all leather, a red symbol poorly painted onto the front of his shirt. It grabbed the man by the face, his yells of anxiety and desperation only making the monster feel a very sinister appeal. It pushed its left arm back, readying itself for a powerful strike, when it felt the human mind lash out at its own mind again.

And suddenly, the Volatile lost all control of its left arm, the right already beginning to go numb.

" _ **The Human...**_ " The words slipped out as a dark snarl.

* * *

Crane had grown tired. He didn't want to stay inside the dark ocean of emptiness any longer. He wasn't pushing the Volatile's mind anymore, but instead began to lash out at the other mind. Kyle wasn't expecting much to happen, but he began to feel himself gain control of his left arm, instantly shoving it back down. Soon enough, the same thing happened with his right arm, and he was able to loosen the grip the creature had on the thug's face.

That was all he could do. The Volatile still had control of everything else, except for his body's arms. It was the best the man could do.

" _Is it the best I could do?_ " Crane asked himself. "No... No, what the fuck am I thinking? I'm not letting some stupid Volatile masquerade as me!"

He forced himself to retract his arms back into his brain, quickly losing the feeling again. It didn't matter as he was rapidly preparing himself to knock the Volatile back into the back of his brain.

* * *

The Volatile has lost its arms, but in a matter of seconds, it felt the numbness go away. However, it wasn't expecting an immense pain to shoot throughout its head, almost as if an explosion went off inside the skull of the human. The numbness came back, but now spreading throughout its entire body, ultimately forcing it retreat to the dark sanctuary of the human's brain.

* * *

Crane felt himself start to come back to his senses, finally breaking out of the black prison. However, just as he felt like he was free, he felt the malevolent force grab ahold of him. And now, he finally opened his eyes, finding the small group of thugs cowering in fear.

But something felt off...

He knew that he had complete control of his body, yet he felt the Volatile still. It was as if both minds had fused together, their actions happening as one. Crane felt a bloodlust, yet felt an extreme amount of energy and power radiating from inside himself.

"Get out of here..." Kyle's voice came out hoarse, but it was loud enough for the weakened group to hear.

"I-it... Sp-" The front man whispered before being cut off.

"NOW!" He shouted, making the men flinch, but also causing them to scramble away. The sounds of retreating footsteps calmed Crane down a bit, but the bloodlust was still there. He had control over it, but only God knew when his mind would finally snap under the pressure exerted from the feeling.

He grabbed his walkie from his bag and frantically began to contact Brecken.

"Brecken!" Kyle shouted at the device, but no answer came through. "God dammit... Brecken!"

Static began to play until the leader's voice finally broke through the barrier of white noise. "Crane, you're back!"

"Yes, but I don't think it's going to be for long."

"Listen, I don't know how long I can keep myself like this, but something's changed."

"Changed?" Confusion sprang from the voice. "You mean something else has happened to you?"

"Yes, but it's different than the other occurrences." Crane said, but began to groan in pain, his head feeling like it was being split open. "I am in control of the infection. I don't know how, but for some reason I feel like I'm one with the Volatile's mind. It's still an individual mind, but my mind and that of the monster are fused together. I feel it's bloodlust, it's energy, the powers it wields."

The opposite line stayed silent for a bit. "Crane, this is getting more and more confusing, but at the same time, more intriguing. But listen, once it's finally daytime and you have full control, you have a large task to do. Lena and I want you to deliver the elixirs to Dr. Camden as soon as possible. Hunter cannot learn any details of them."

Crane had listened in, but the headache had already turned into a migraine, the feeling of immense pain pulsing throughout his head.

"Yeah, *grunt* I'll do that...!" Crane blurted out before he collapsed to his knees, his fingers digging into the dirt below him, nails already dark from the grime and blood. As he began to sweat profusely again, the Volatile had already begun to pull away from his clutches.

Now, he laid himself on his side, where his breathing had picked up its pace. His vision had become blurry, and his hearing had become just a ringing noise. Many of his senses had been compromised by the Volatile, and in a few seconds, Crane's mind had finally been discarded to the darkness once more.

* * *

"Hurry! That thing is going to catch us!" Serkan overheard one of the grunts yelp the statement out in a panicked manner, and he too felt the same way. He had tripped over the corpses of his comrades as he fled from the very monster that had killed them. They had escaped with their lives barely hanging on, but the discovery they made had sent them shivering right to the atoms they were made up of.

" _It talked... That creature actually talked..._ " Serkan said inside his head. The thoughts and theories began to run rampant inside his head, and it was due to that that he hadn't noticed the van already coming into view.

Once he saw the van, he began to shout.

"BERK! START THE VAN!" Serkan's voice boomed. He had begun running towards the vehicle, all the while shouting away in the direction of it. After a few more calls, the sound of the van coming to life had been caught by his hearing.

"Go, go, go! Get in the van!" Serkan said as he opened the back door of the van, holding it open for the others. One by one the men piled into the van, and once they were all in, the vehicle began to pull away from the scene.

"What the hell, Serkan!" Berk said as he turned around to face the man. "What were you guys screaming about?"

"The creature... The Volatile, it attacked us soon after you contacted us. It killed one of our last remaining men. We saw him bleed to death, and that Volatile showed no mercy."

Berk has gone quiet, along with the last grunts.

"Tell Hunter that our plan failed, but you have to include the part with the Volatile." Serkan said. "I'll deal with him if he gets pissed."

Berk's brows lowered in fear and despair, but he nodded. He finally faced back to the sights in front of him, leaving the other men alone with their thoughts.

" _What the fuck are you, you rotting piece of scum?_ "

* * *

So, it's been a while since I released another chapter of this fan fiction. The main reason for this was the immense amount of homework and school stuff that piled itself onto me. Then there's also procrastination and the biggest Writer's block I've had in a long time. I honestly felt like my story was complete shit once I went through the block, but today was the day I finally got out. (Feels good to be writing again)

So, that's all I wanted to say. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and may the Writing Gods bless me with the inspiration to write another chapter.


	16. Chapter 16

The lone van had finally parked itself inside the Garrison almost immediately as the sun broke through the horizon. Hunter watched as Serkan and Berk began to climb out of the van, only a few other thugs piling out afterwards.

Hunter began to massage his temples, feeling his face boiling up in anger. He looked over at the ragged group, finding Serkan at the front. Everyone had tried their best to look away from his deadly gaze, all except for Serkan. He had kept his ground, standing unfazed by the piercing look.

Hunter shut his eyes.

"Why...?"

The other man let out a sigh before speaking.

"They caught us by surprise. They shot at us while we tried to plant the bombs and were prepared for our attack."

"But that doesn't mean that they were able to kill off a group of 25 men!" Hunter shouted into the henchman's face. "Only 10 of our men should have died, at most!"

Serkan opened his mouth once more.

"But they had something else..." The man fearfully spat out, his eyes already showing the mental scarring. "They had the monster, the thing that stole our supplies. It attacked us, savagely tearing our numbers down. One by one, each of our men was clawed down to nothing. By the time it had finished, we were the only ones that were spared."

Now Hunter had grown pissed off. He grabbed Serkan by his shirt and lifted the man off the ground.

"Don't you dare lie to me!" The leader spoke with an icy voice, yet his eyes were bloodshot and ablaze with fury. "That thing is dead! If you want to make up more excuses, then I'll just kill you right where you stand..."

"Fine then... Kill me! And the others if you want... But that won't change the fact that this Volatile is still alive and killing our men!" Serkan has finally snapped and shouted right back into Hunter's face. He had been fueled with fury as well, and almost getting killed hadn't helped his situation.

"Go on... Kill me... Do it in front of the men that survived the literal embodiment of hell... But just know this Hunter... You'll regret not heeding my words if you do this."

Hunter stood planted in the same spot, where his stone cold face slowly began to fade away. He let out his anger by randomly and rapidly punching an empty crate nearby, before breathing in and out slowly, his chest and back rising and falling.

"Serkan... I'm not going to kill you. I'm sorry, I'm just deeply saddened by the loss of our men." Hunter said as he let some tears escape his eyes, running down his cheeks. "It's a horrible feeling to see them go, but I'm actually glad you all stayed alive."

The henchman sighed in relief, then briefly gave his boss a hug.

"I wanted to say that we shouldn't worry, but seeing what's occurring right now, I fought that thought back instead." Serkan chuckled as he said that. "But I'm being serious here. that Volatile is alive, and it's a bigger problem than we thought."

Hunter had finally regained his composure, becoming serious once more.

"Just how can this thing be a bigger problem?"

"The monster... It's sentient."

Hunter's eyebrows scrunched up when those words came at him. "Sentient?"

"Yes sir, the Volatile can speak. The person of the actual body somehow regained control of their body. He told us to leave the area. He... He saved us..."

Hunter paced the area they were in, his hand covering his mouth. He had already begun cooking up different ideas, theories, and speculations in his brain.

"Serkan, I want you to find out anything you can about that Volatile. From what I'm seeing, this thing may just be a part of Brecken's group." Hunter said.

The man began to grow confused with this newfound speculation.

"Brecken's group? What makes you say that?"

"First that thing stole our supplies, then the Tower retrieved the exact same things that were taken." Hunter stated. "And now, it decided to stick its ugly head into our business right after Brecken and his group attacked. I don't think it's an act of pure coincidence."

Serkan kept the confused face, but after a few seconds of wondering, it went away. The pieces had slowly connected together, making Hunter's speculation seem very plausible.

"That does make a lot of sense Boss." Serkan exclaimed. "But just how are we going to tell what the Tower's next plan is? What if the Volatile is involved?"

"Do we try and listen in on their walkie talkie conversations? Rais was able to do that when he was still around." Berk had finally butted into the conversation. Both the leader and the other henchman looked in his direction, then looked at each other.

"Yes, that will do. Perhaps we can get some valuable info on them." Hunter stated with a grim, yet gleeful tone.

Serkan nodded and bowed to Hunter before calling the others. They soon began to retreat inside the Garrison, where they would soon begin to grab essential intel.

Hunter stood rooted to his spot, looking up at the blue sky. He closed his eyes and shed one more tear before his face became as sharp as stone once more.

"Never mess with my family..."

* * *

Crane cracked his eyes open, the lids tightly sealed by rheum. The lustrous rays of light impacted his eyes, making them ache for a short period of time. When that went away, he tried to stand, but pain had suddenly shot through his entire body. The bullet wounds he had on his body were causing intense aching. They weren't as painful like when he was fully human, but he still felt it nonetheless.

With agonizing difficulty, Crane had taken out his walkie, beginning to contact Brecken. It took a few seconds, but eventually the man had picked up.

"Brecken *grunt* I'm going back into the Tower to retrieve the elixirs. Get some medkits and painkillers ready because these wounds are painful as hell." Crane laughed in between pained groans.

" _Copy that. I'll tell Lena to do just that._ " Brecken said. " _And just a heads up Kyle, be careful on your way to Sector 0. Something is telling me that Hunter isn't done. He's plotting something else. I can just feel it!_ "

"Will do. Let's just hope that asshole stays put just a little longer." Crane said. "Anyways, I'll talk to you later, Brecken."

Crane stuffed the device back into his bag, heading straight for the Tower. Hopefully the trip to Old Town would be a breeze.

* * *

"Come on... There has to be something that these people are talking about." Berk said as he listened for any sort of communication of walkies. It had already been half an hour since they started, yet the man felt like he was sitting there the whole day.

"Serkan, are you sure this is gonna work. I mean, do you think that the Volatile will actually use a walkie?"

"In all honesty, I don't think so." The man responded. "It's just absurd to think that a Volatile can speak, let alone use a walkie."

Berk was about to talk again when the sound of static rang throughout the small room. In a rush, the man began to mess around with the radio, trying his best to find the transmission that was occurring. After a few more tweaks, the sound of someone talking finally came through the radio.

" _Brecken *grunt* I'm going back into the Tower to retrieve the elixirs. Get some medkits and painkillers ready because these wounds are painful as hell._ " The voice of a pained man came through.

" _Copy that. I'll tell Lena to do just that._ " Brecken's voice came through as well. Both men had opened their ears carefully for this.

" _And just a heads up Kyle, be careful on your way to Sector 0. Something is telling me that Hunter isn't done. He's plotting something else. I can just feel it!_ "

The two didn't know what to think. Brecken was talking to Kyle Crane about apparently needing to deliver some sort of elixirs. They had no clue what they were about, but from what it sounded like, it wasn't any sort of typical medicine or weapon. This was something that Brecken wanted to keep quiet, but thanks to them, it was no longer a secret.

"Berk, tell Hunter the info we finally retrieved." Serkan said as he slyly grinned. "I don't think Crane is going to make it to Old Town. Not if we can help it."

* * *

Ok, I told myself and another follower that I would release this chapter by last Friday or Saturday, but my World History teacher gave us an essay at that time, and I honestly couldn't finish the story until today. I finally had the chance to finish it and post it today.

I was also planning on making this chapter longer, but I'll save the action for the next chapter. ;) Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Who knows, perhaps we'll see a character death soon. (◉ ͜ʖ◉)


	17. Chapter 17

_**DESCLAIMER: Dying Light does not belong to me, nor do any of the characters from the original game(s).**_

* * *

Serkan and Berk bursted through the entrance to Hunter's room. They had scrambled to get in, but after realizing who they were in the presence of, they straightened their posture and cleared their throats.

"Sir, we finally got something." Berk said with a prideful grin. "We're still not sure if the Volatile is on the Tower's side, but we did find out some other valuable info. It seems that Brecken ordered Kyle Crane to deliver something to someone in Sector 0. We don't know who it's for, but these "elixirs" they spoke of seemed extremely important. It seemed that only him and Crane knew about them."

Hunter had placed his hand over his mouth, letting his mind run wild.

"Do you think it could be some sort of vaccine or something?" Asked Berk. "We could potentially use that against them."

Hunter faced the two men and spoke with a strict, soft tone, saying, "Berk. Serkan. I want you two to try and stop Crane from delivering those elixirs." He put his hand to his chin and continued. "If it is a medicine of sorts, we may just very well be able to blackmail the Tower with it."

"Will do, Boss!" Both henchmen said as they began to exit the room. Hunter slowly propped himself onto the chair he was using and smiled.

"You're a sly motherfucker, aren't you Harris Brecken?"

* * *

Crane had finally begun to step out of the Tower, the bullet wounds scattered throughout his body still lightly oozing blood. He didn't care though, as the sharp pain from each one had slowly dissipated down to a low ache.

Kyle whipped out his map, tracing his finger to find the best route for getting through the sewers. In the end, he decided in taking the most southern sewer entrance, the same one where he had been ambushed by Rais's gang.

Crane began to do some quick warm ups and stretches before beginning to jog his way towards the sewers.

* * *

Serkan watched as more of their men piled into another yellow van, their faces etched with worry, annoyance, and fear. He looked over at the police rifle that he was given, its cold metal reflecting the morning sun off of its surface.

"What makes you think this is a good idea Serkan?" Berk asked as he walked over to the man. He slapped him on the back and faced the van as well. "We already lost enough of our men. Losing more won't make things better."

"Berk, this is Crane we're talking about. He's a strong human, but a human nonetheless. It means we can easily get rid of him and retrieve those elixirs he mentioned."

Berk frowned after that and looked down.

"I don't feel too good about this, S." The man said. "I feel like something bad is going to happen."

"What do you mean?"

"I had a dream last night. Serkan, you were in it, but something happened. You... You were bleeding... Badly! Blood gushed out from a deep gash in your back and from other deep scratches. Y-You were coughing up blood, even splashing some of it onto my face."

"I know for a fact that this dream is something more than just that." Berk said with worry in his voice. "It's a sign that your not going to make it Serkan."

The other just stood there in silence. He tried his best to not overthink the dream, but it failed. He could feel dark thoughts already spilling away inside of him, and many possible scenarios and outcomes had slowly grown. He didn't know what to think about this, and didn't have enough time to do so anyway.

With a dark shadow casted over his feelings, Serkan said, "Berk, l-let's not ponder on that for now." The lead henchman walked towards the van, leaving Berk alone.

The secondary henchman ran his hand over his hair, sighing silently to himself.

"Please, spare us just this one time..." Berk whispered while gifting the sky a desperate gaze.

* * *

Crane shifted himself towards the left as a Viral swiped towards him. In one quick motion, he slid his machete out of his bag and sliced clean through its throat, causing the head to fly off. He pushed on, dodging zombies throughout his trip. He was slowly getting closer to the tunnel entrance, already near the destroyed highway.

Kyle ran into the dark tunnel near Rais's old tower, finding a few Night Walkers stranded by cars and on the floor. Once they heard the slightest noise come from him, they growled in anger, their footsteps resonating throughout the almost pitch-black tunnel.

Crane watched as the glowing eyes slowly closed the distance between him and them. He raised his blade, charging all of his strength into his right arm, and did one back sweep of his weapon.

Arms and heads bounced onto the floors, while a few of the infected were merely scratched by the blade. Those that survived regained their composure in a slash, instantly going to attack again. Crane swiped up, down, left, right, and many other directions, each strike knocking down another Night Walker.

"Damn, this feels good." Kyle thought as the crimson blood splashed onto him, a few pieces of meat landing onto his face. He kept a shining grin on his face as he walked out of the tunnel, leaving a bloodbath behind.

The man headed towards the wrecked overpass, where a few bunkers stood rooted, waiting to be of use once more. He pressed forward, jumping over the debris, going through one of the bunkers's entrances. In there, shelves were lined up, boxes stacked on each other within these shelves.

Crane began to climb the shelves, using them and the boxes for foot support. Once he was able to climb to the top metal flooring, he looked around for any sort of exit to the actual roof of the structure. Sunlight seeped through a large break in the roof, where he was striding towards. Kyle climbed out of the inner part of the bunker, and finally stood on the roof. He spotted some scaffolding on the side of the highway, which gave him the chance to get onto the road.

Crane took a few steps back, and began to sprint towards the scaffolding. When he finally reached the edge of the bunker, he put all of his might into his legs, which ejected him into the air, allowing him to cling onto the metal railing on the side of the roadway. Sluggishly, Kyle pulled himself up.

Once he was done with that, he began to jog towards the sewer entrance that would take him to Sector 0. He passed a few Biters, tackled away a couple Virals, and finally stopped at the door. He pushed it open, shutting it on the faces of the outside infected.

Crane leaned against the door, sliding down and letting an exhausted sigh escape his system. He lifted his arm to his head and wiped away the blood and sweat that was coating his forehead.

"Damn, those Night Walkers put up a good fight." Said Kyle as he pulled a piece of cloth out of his bag and began to wipe away the red bodily fluids from his machete. "But I put up a better one."

"Resting sounds extremely nice right about now." Kyle said to no one but himself. "But delivering these things are my main priority."

Crane arose from his position and began to walk into the dark and humid tunnels of the Harran sewer systems.

* * *

"Hunter, we've arrived at the most southern sewer entrance." Said Serkan as he spoke into the walkie talkie. "We'll do our best to catch up to him."

" _Copy that. And don't fail me again, S._ " Hunter's voice crackled through the walkie before losing connection. The man stuffed the device away, grabbing his police rifle from the van.

Serkan walked to the driver side of the van and opened the door, saying, "Berk, let's go!". The other henchman stepped out, two handguns on his gun holster. He nodded grimly, but did his best to keep his head up with pride.

"Come on, bud." Serkan slapped Berk on the back while speaking. "It's time we start to kill of the Tower's main legs."

The two men, along with a group of 7 others, began to head through the sewer entrance. The sound of their footsteps echoed lightly throughout the large area. The smell of blood violated their noses, and they found a small trail of dead bodies beginning to appear the more they pushed forward in the tunnels.

"Seems like we weren't the only ones that took this route." Mumbled Berk as he walked over the crimson trails left behind. "Perhaps we can catch up with Crane."

Serkan grinned in agreement. "Let's get to it then."

"Come on, people!" Serkan yelled out to the others. "We got some elixirs to snatch!"

* * *

Crane had began to slow down his jog as he finally arrived at a sloping pipeline, one that he knew would take him to the room closest to the Sector 0 entrance. He crouched down to the pipe's level and gradually slid down, making him chuckle lightly in amusement. And when he finally stopped, he found another room half full of water.

Kyle climbed the railing separating him from the water, jumping in with a loud splash. With the speed of a turtle, Crane swam to the other side of the room that allowed him to leave.

Once he got back to the surface and into the other side of the fenced up room, he walked towards the door leading to another tunnel that gave him access to Old Town.

Kyle touched the door handle, gripped it, and just as he began to open it, a series of gunshots played out. He could feel a couple of the hot metal beads pierce his body, shooting intense pain around the impacted area.

"Hurry, he's leaving!" A thug cried out while he continued to shoot away at Crane. He began to quickly run away, but the pain slowly incapacitated him. With just a weak limp, Kyle pressed on. He could hear the sound of the footsteps already catching up.

Crane fell to his knees, landing on his hands afterwards. His breath came out hard and raspy as he tried to crawl his way on. But every movement he made only caused more pain to travel about his body. His vision became blurry, and his mind was beginning to seep away again.

And all he could hear now were shouts and footsteps.

* * *

"Hurry up, Berk!" Yelled Serkan. "One of our guys actually shot Crane!" Berk gave a "hmph" of triumph as he picked up his pace. The two men began to catch up with their remaining recruits, who were hiding behind some objects in case Kyle decided to start shooting too.

Serkan crouched down and began to walk in this position. He slowly tiptoed his way over to the other side of the tunnel, only to find the Tower's most famous recruit laying facedown on the cold, metal floor.

"We got him!" Serkan shouted to catch the other's attention. They rushed over to see the spectacle and began to cheer.

"So much for the mighty hero of Harran." Berk scoffed as he delivered a hard kick to Crane's back. "Now let's get those elixirs and get out of here."

Serkan nodded and grabbed Kyle's back in order to turn him over. He turned the man over, but a gut-wrenching gasp escaped his lips.

"It's the-" Serkan didn't finish his sentence as he saw the unconscious man's eyes now crack open. The eyes glowed with a fiery anger, and the man previously known as Kyle Crane let out a scream that struck fear into the darkest of hearts.

* * *

Kyle witnessed as Hunter's thugs began to back away from his body, which was being controlled by the Volatile. They began to run, and the monster chased after them with a bloody craving for massacre.

" _This ought to be pretty._ " Kyle thought sarcastically. " _Hope the Volatile does some damage to their little posse._ "

* * *

"Get away!" Berk yelled at the top of his lungs, straining his voice to say the words. "Get to the entrance of Sector 0 now!"

Already two thugs had been killed off by the Volatile in the span of 3 minutes. One man had been cornered, his body and face sliced into an indescribable mess. The second man had been mauled on the face, and his rapid loss of blood cost him his life.

The others had enough time to escape, all except for Serkan and Berk. They stayed behind as to protect the other recruits.

"Serkan, hurry up and get to the top!" Berk yelled as he stood next to the ladder leading up.

Serkan shot a few more rounds into the now approaching Volatile before he threw the firearm at the creature. The man ran to the ladder and was about to climb it, when he suddenly stopped. He looked over at Berk, his eyebrows scrunched up in sadness and worry.

"No." Serkan said. "You go up first."

Berk's eyes widened in surprise as he said, "What? No! Hurry the hell up and climb it!"

Serkan shook his head sideways. "One of us has to stall the Volatile."

Berk's mouth transformed into a scowl before he pressed his face closer to Serkan's.

"We're both getting out of this!" Berk said with a hint of worry. "We promised Hunter that we would get out of here alive!"

Serkan chuckled to himself before giving Berk a saddened smile. "Well, tell Hunter that only on of us could make it." And with that, Serkan turned around and rushed over to the Volatile, tackling it to the floor. He began to punch it several times in the face, causing it to screech in fury and pain. And just as it seemed as if though Serkan was gaining the upper hand, the Volatile raised its hand and stabbed the man right in the back with its claws.

The henchman's cry rang throughout the tunnel, alongside the sounds of screeching.

"Get out of here Berk!" Serkan yelled through gritted teeth, the blood already beginning to rise up to his mouth.

The other man stood on the side, watching through blurry eyes as his close friend was being massacred in front of him. But, the sound of Serkan's final demand snapped him back to reality and he climbed the ladder.

Berk got to the top, and he sat on the floor. The sound of Serkan's screams were still playing loudly, until only soft grunts and whimpers were heard.

Berk clenched his teeth and fists together, his face turning hot and red with anger. In his trance, he began to punch the floor until the skin on his knuckles were scraped away.

"Serkan..." Whimpered Berk. "I'm sorry..." The words escaped his mouth before he continued to let the tears escape in memory of his lost friend.

* * *

 **Finally, a main character death! (Not that it's a good thing.)**

 **Anyways, I've got to thank JEZZHYE, Vickie1, and many others for giving me inspiration to write through the constant comments. There's nothing better than to receive a comment on your story, be it a compliment or a form of constructive criticism.**

 **And speaking about Vickie1, you should check out her story called "** _Dying Light: The Descent_ " **. It's her own take on what happens after the Vile ending in the Following. However, this story expands the region where Harran is located. I would go into more detail, but I may as well use a separate document for that. :P (Her story and writing style is freaking awesome!)**

 **Anyways, that's all I wanted to say for now. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter!**


	18. Chapter 18

_**DESCLAIMER: Dying Light does not belong to me, nor do any of the characters from the original game(s).**_

* * *

 _ **Cr** **ane limped towards the infected that was hunchbacked, growling loudly. He saw its features, which were something he hadn't ever seen in both Harran and the Countryside.**_

 _ **The back, forearms, and head were coated in a thick layer that consisted mostly of concrete, but bits of dirt, plastic, and trash were a part of the grey mixture. Its breaths were ragged, sounding as if it had recently been screaming.**_

 _ **Crane finally stopped a couple steps away from the odd infected, and he scanned it with his eyes one last time. It also seemed to have clothes, the pieces of cloth torn and tattered to almost nothing.**_

 _ **"** Yellow shirt... **" Kyle whispered to himself. "** Bandages... **"**_

 _ **He paused to think about where he had seen those two things before. It took a few seconds, but once that person came to mind, he grew a bit worried. He reached over to tap the infected on the shoulder and said, "** B-Brecken? **"**_

 _ **The infected, in return, turned around and let out a grunt that had a hint of confusion. It growled and began to grip its head, collapsing to the floor. Crane witnessed all of this, and he began to feel terrified. He was face to face with something he had never had any encounters with before.**_

 _ **The infected finally stopped, it's eyes burning red once more. It lifted itself off the ground, and in a random haste, began to charge at Crane. His eyes widened, and he lifted his arms to shield himself.**_

 _ **And just before the infected crashed into him, the entire place burned a bright blue.**_

* * *

Crane sprang awake, his body instinctively getting off the ground and grabbing his nearest firearm. He looked around like a crazed madman, trying to find out where exactly he was.

It dawned on him that he was still underground. His body began to ache again, but he tried his best to ignore it. Kyle then remembered the elixirs, and he scavenged his bag, finding the three vials still intact and safe. He sighed in relief, continuing to look around, and that's when his eyes locked on to a body discarded at a very far corner of the room. He began to walk towards it, and saw it was a man, but he was wearing the outfits that Hunter's men would wear.

"Good riddance." Kyle said as he stepped away from the body. However, one last glance at the corpse showed him the claw marks and bites left on the cold, clammy flesh of the thug. He felt his stomach twist and turn in discomfort. A big burp came up, bringing the telltale taste of blood to his tastebuds. Crane walked over to a wall, where he leaned against it, heaving up whatever was inside his stomach. A small puddle consisting of red bile, bits of flesh, and a greenish-black liquid had slowly formed near his feet.

"Good God!" Kyle gasped as he looked at his quaking hands. "Not again... Not Again!"

The man began to back away from the room, closing the distance between him and the latter leading up to Old Town. He began to panic and rushed away, hastily climbing up the steps. He kept on scrabbling away, not wanting to look back at another one of his mistakes.

* * *

"He's dead!" Berk blasted into the room, screaming those two words at the top of his lungs. "Hunter, he's dead!"

Hunter was facing away from Berk when he heard the words spill from his mouth. The news initially filled the man with happiness.

"So the deed is done." The man clapped his hands together and smiled. "Was it really that easy?" He turned around, and that's when Hunter saw Berk's face; Saddened and raw from the tears.

"Berk..." The leader's happiness drained away to nothing. "Berk, please tell me you're talking about the Volatile."

He watched as the henchman's mouth formed into a pained frown, and more tears formed rivers on his dirtied cheeks. Berk covered his face and lowered his head in guilt and shame. Hunter just kept on looking, looking, yet still not fully realizing what was going on. His brain was having trouble trying to process what Berk's words meant.

"Berk... Where's Serkan?" Whispered Hunter, his voice beginning to lose its composure. Berk gave one quick glance at the man before swiftly turning around as to not meet his gaze again. The leader's eyes widened in confusion and shock. He slowly walked over to his desk, where he plopped himself onto the seat, planting his elbows onto the desktop and covering his face.

And it stayed this way for a good minute before the anger within Hunter began to boil up. It was like a volcano; Sudden and deadly. The man randomly uncovered his face and began to punch his desk repeatedly, eventually till it had a gaping hole and his knuckles were bleeding profusely.

"Berk, get out..." Hunter said it so low that Berk did not catch what he had said.

"What?"

Hunter got up, grabbed his pistol from the floor after being accidentally thrown there, and loaded it. He stomped his way over to Berk.

"I said get out..." Hunter's voice rang like Hell itself had been let loose. It sent a cold shiver throughout his entire body.

"I-I'm sorry." The henchman said. "I couldn't hear you the first time."

"Listen BETTER NEXT TIME!" Hunter yelled in his face while pointing the pistol right at the side of his head. Berk's eyes closed shut in fear and he rushed out of the room before anything else began to unfold.

Hunter realized a few seconds later what he had done. He began to rush towards the door to call for Berk, but he realized it was useless. He had just scared him off. The leader paced the room and let go of his emotions, eventually throwing the firearm at the floor, making it break slightly in the process. He gazed at it, but didn't care anymore. He didn't know what to think anymore.

* * *

Crane pushed the door open and sunlight began to flood the entrance to Old Town. The man shielded his eyes for a couple seconds before beginning to step out. He still felt horrible, but he had pushed those thoughts and feelings deep inside of himself.

The runner took his walkie out and began to contact Dr. Camden. As he waited for the man to pick up, he looked at the sun almost beginning to set. His eyes widened and he began to grow anxious. He tapped his foot rapidly until the doctor finally answered.

"Dr. Camden, it's Crane."

"Crane? Well, it's been a while since I've heard from you." The doctor chuckled from the other side of the line. "Is there something you need Crane? Perhaps some extra medical supplies, something that needs to be analyzed, etc.?"

"Yeah, there is something I need for you to take and to run some tests on them." Said Kyle. "They're vials of... I don't even know what the fuck they are, but all I know is that they're dangerous, but they are the closest thing we have to a cure."

"Hold on a minute." Camden interrupted. "What do you mean it's a cure? And how dangerous are we talking about?"

"It's not a cure, Doc. It's like a sort of chemical that helps you blend in with the infected." Crane explained before getting to the second question. "However, it has one lethal side effect..."

Crane paused briefly, trying his best to spit out the words.

"Well, what is it?"

"You're not gonna believe this... It turns you into a goddamn Volatile!" Stayed Kyle. "Some woman in the Countryside called The Mother was in possession of the vials, and she herself was a Volatile."

"Now Kyle, how can that be possible?" Camden questioned. "How was she in possession of them if she was infected already? Wasn't she already rabid and deadly?"

"No. No she wasn't." Crane said. "These elixirs made her a sentient Volatile."

"Crane, please tell me she's the only one that took this stuff."

"I'm sorry to say this, but many people in the Countryside have already been exposed to it daily." The runner stated. "And that bitch... She... She gave me the liquid directly. I didn't even know I wasn't my old self anymore until I saw my hands before losing myself to the monster."

"Kyle, what are you saying?" Dr. Camden shouted. "Are you infected with that stuff?"

Crane closed his eyes, took in and released batches of air from his system, before answering.

"Yes, I'm infected with it." The man whispered. "And I turned just like her."

Both ends of the line stayed in dead silence for 30 seconds, before Camden finally broke it.

"Get here as fast as you can." Dr. Camden said. "It's almost sundown and I don't know if you act differently during that time."

Crane grinned. "It's a new habit that sucks ass."

"I'll be there soon. See you, Camden."

Kyle put his walkie back into his bag, before beginning to walk away from the entrance to the sewers. He looked back at the building housing the entrance one more time before running in the direction of the laboratory.

* * *

 **To start off, I am deeply sorry for not updating in like a month. With school giving me finals and my AP test during my last couple of weeks of school, I was extremely busy. Although I am on break now, I still don't have full relaxation due to being assigned summer work for next year's classes. However, I will try my best to update this story a bit quicker (Mostly because I can possibly finish it if I actually paced myself with updates.)**

 **That's really all I have to say. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. (P.S. Buckle up guys, it may get a bit bumpy from here on out.)**


	19. Chapter 19

Hunter sat at his desk, his head between his arms. He had already stopped crying, but the anger and sadness stuck by him. He was trying to come up with a plan, something that could potentially help bring down the Tower.

"I know now that bringing down that entire building won't work..." Hunter whispered to himself. He stayed quiet for a few seconds.

" _If I can't bring it down from the outside..._ " He thought to himself. " _Then the only way I can bring the entire thing down is by attacking its inner workings..._ " And it finally clicked inside of Hunter's head.

"That's it!" Hunter said aloud, a wide grin on his face. "I don't know why I didn't think about this from the start! All I have to do is get rid of the people living there instead."

"I can start from the top, taking out their strongest, most active members first. Then I can slowly progress down the statuses of each person."

Hunter got up from his seat and headed to a nearby window. From there, he could see a few of his men lolligagging around the court area. Included in the group was Berk, still a bit under the weather, but participating nonetheless. He smiled lightly, then faced away from the window.

"Perhaps I should start off with those runners." Hunter announced to thin air. "That means the Tower won't have access to anymore supplies."

He closed his eyes and began to chuckle ominously. The leader clapped his hands together, before putting them to his sides and clenching them into fists. He opened his eyes again and grinned devilishly.

Hunter walked towards the door, letting out a light "hmph", before walking out.

* * *

Berk sat inside one of the vans that the thugs used. He solemnly watched from a short distance as many of the them were gathered around two men who were arm wrestling. It was a pretty good match, he had to admit to that. Both men were evenly as strong, and it looked as if it wasn't going to end soon.

He sighed before saying something to himself. "I wish Serkan could see this."

"Ditto." A voice said, before the person showed themselves. "It sucks that he passed."

"Oh, hey Yavuz." Berk greeted the man. "Yeah, it doesn't feel the same without him here. He was a bit of an ass at times, but that man was like a brother to me."

Yavuz nodded in agreement.

"Mind if I sit here?" He said, pointing at the empty space next to Berk. The other man nodded and quickly patted the space. Yavuz sat down, before beginning to talk again.

"Yeah, Serkan and I didn't really bond that much." Yavuz said. "With Hunter not usually having all four henchmen interact with each other very often, I didn't really get to know the man too well. But, from what it seems, he was a really good man, and truly cared about you."

Berk gave a small smile. "Yeah, he was always the one putting himself into harm's way. Hell, there was this one time where a ragtag group of Toads ambushed our group. They kept spitting at us, yet Serkan was either brave, or stupid enough to actually put himself in front so that he would get hit by all that gunk. It pissed me off, and he did get sick from all that afterwards, but he got better... eventually."

Yavuz chuckled at the short retelling of the encounter. "Well, at least he's somewhere better now. Somewhere where these monsters can't get to him anymore."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Berk said. "I just wish we had actually stopped to fully kill Crane at that point. Who knows, maybe Serkan could have actually lived."

Yavuz nodded, but stopped himself mid-action.

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Yavuz questioned.

Berk looked at the man with deep concern. His face formed into a grimace before looking down.

"Berk, what the hell did you mean by that?"

" _Fuck... I wasn't supposed to say anything yet._ " Berk cursed himself mentally. He wanted to disappear right where he was rooted, but that would never happen.

"I-I don't think you should know this yet." The man blurred out, mentally slapping himself for the poor word choice. "You should wait till Hunter knows."

Yavuz began to grow angry, gripping the other henchman by his lower jaw, before pulling his face towards his own.

"What the fuck is going on here, Berk..." The man's voice was deep and dark, not as menacing as Hunter's moments, but still able to strike some fear into someone. "Who the hell is responsible for Serkan's death? Was it the fucking Volatile, or was it that jackass, Kyle Crane?"

"I..." Berk tried to spit out the ball of words collecting at the back of his throat, but he couldn't. He knew that spilling the truth was going to be bad news for him since he didn't fully explain all the details of the event to anyone, not even to Hunter.

"Answer me, you piece of shit..." Yavuz spoke softly into Berk's face, lowering his grip down to where his neck was. The pressure on the other man's neck slowly began to build up, while oxygen levels in Berk's system began to deplete. He choked, gasping for even the tiniest bit of air. He looked right into Yavuz's eyes, seeing them shining with anger.

It seemed like he was about to pass out from no more oxygen inside of him, when the hand around his neck suddenly loosened itself. He began to gasp violently, taking in precious air. Berk looked up, seeing Hunter mouthing off Yavuz, who silently stood in front of him in sudden fear and shame.

He took one last look around with blurry vision, seeing the other henchman, Soner, look down at him, before picking him up off the ground with a couple other men.

* * *

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Hunter jabbed his finger into Yavuz's face. "Why the hell did you just decide to strangle Berk?"

"Hunter, it's-"

"My God, it's like a shitstorm, one after another. First my supplies stolen, then my plan ruined, then many of my men, all dead. I don't need anymore fucking problems Yavuz!"

"Boss, please hear me out." Yavuz spoke softly. "Berk was hiding something. He said something that only him, and possibly a few others, knew about."

"Yada, yada, yada!" Hunter exclaimed angrily. "Excuse after excuse!"

Yavuz mustered up whatever whatever might he had left and spilled the beans.

"Kyle Crane is the sentient Volatile!"

Hunter stopped himself mid-rant. Many other thugs around the area also heard what Yavuz said, and they were all just as dumbstruck as Hunter.

"You think this is some fucking joke?" Hunter said as he closed the distance between himself and the henchman. "You think Serkan's death is going to be used to promote fake rumors? These lies are just disgusting at this point."

Yavuz was about to speak again, when a lone thug came forward.

"Yavuz is telling the truth, Boss." The man said. "I was there to witness as Crane viciously killed Serkan. He... He sacrificed himself for the team."

Hunter looked at both of the men in a wild

daze. He kept his gaze on them for a good few seconds, before raising his hands up into the air in anger. The man retracted them back, before running his right hand through his hair.

"Why didn't Berk tell me?" Hunter yelled out in a saddened strain. "He's my fucking henchman. I thought I could trust him with telling me anything he finds out."

The same thug spoke up once more.

"Boss, he DID try to tell you..." The man said. "But you cursed him out of your office before he could even spit out another word."

Hunter scowled, but he knew it was true. His emotions had begun to run haywire, making him seem like an asshole. At this point, he may as well have called himself Rais 2.0.

"You're right..." The man blurred out. "But Berk not telling me sooner isn't that important right now. I'll deal with that a little later. I just want to know if this jackass over here didn't kill him."

"Hunter-"

"This isn't going to be left forgotten, Yavuz." Hunter cursed, pointing his index finger at him. "You're off the hook, for now. What we DO need to do is do something about Crane and the residents of the Tower."

Yavuz, although nervous and rattled, nodded in agreement.

"I'll call Soner back out to help us create another plan..."

"No need for that." Said the leader. "I already made up a plan that is going to work for sure. I'll fill you two in after you come back."

Yavuz nodded again, before walking back into the building to find Soner. Hunter sighed in order to relieve himself a bit.

"I just hope everything goes as planned..."

* * *

*A couple hours later*

Berk slowly began to flutter his eyes open, the low light of the room still hurting his head. When it subsided, he began to get into place, sitting upright in the makeshift bed. There, he tried to recollect his thoughts, as well as the memories of what had happened to him.

All that Berk could remember was Yavuz on the brink of killing him by choking him, as well as the last henchman, Soner, taking him away. Anything after that, he couldn't know about since he was out cold.

The man sat in the shabby mattress, not really thinking much. He was tuning into the quiet tranquility of the room's atmosphere, something he wasn't regularly exposed to.

" _This is nice..._ " Berk said to himself with a light smile. " _I bet you'd love this too, Serkan. I still wish you were here, but perhaps it's better that you're not. You don't have to suffer through this crap, as well as deal with the world's hardships. Wherever you are, I hope you live it to its fullest._ "

Berk wanted to keep talking to "Serkan", but the sound of footsteps cut his conversation short.

The door to the room slowly creaked open, revealing Soner.

"Hey, Berk." Said the man with a small grin. "How are you feeling?"

"I've had better days." Berk chuckled as he rubbed his neck. "But I think I can keep on working."

"That's good." Said Soner, before taking a seat in the wooden stool near the poorly made bed. "Look, I wanted to say, I'm sorry for what Yavuz did. I know I shouldn't be the one saying this, but I know he won't man up to his problems, so I took this into my own hands."

"It's not problem, Soner. I just hope Hunter isn't mad."

"Oh, believe me, he was. He was about to lose his shit, but one of your group members came clean too. It calmed him down, but he gave us another plan to fulfill now."

"Give me the details..."

"We're ordered to kill off all the residents living inside of the Tower."

Berk sighed as he slapped his forehead.

"Didn't we try doing that already?"

"We tried to bomb the Tower that time. What we're doing here is killing off the people, one by one. The first targets are the Runners, as they provide most of the supplies to the Tower."

Berk thought about it for a little bit. In his opinion, it wasn't the best plan, but he could see how it would work.

"Eh, I guess it's good." Berk said. "So when are we doing this?"

"Hunter told us to start tomorrow, early in the morning. Once the sun rises and the Volatiles are scared off, we follow any Runners to their destinations and kill them off."

Berk smiled. He didn't think it was all that great, but thinking about it now, it actually was a great plan.

"That's good. Very good!"

Both men nodded in agreement, before chuckling darkly.

" _You're going to pay for this, Kyle Crane._ "


	20. Chapter 20

_**DESCLAIMER: Dying Light does not belong to me, nor do any of the characters from the original game(s).**_

* * *

* _ **Meanwhile, at Camden's laboratory**_ *

" _My God, is that really you, Crane?_ "

Crane overheard Dr. Camden's voice through the intercom. He looked over at the camera next to the elevator and waved at it.

"Yes, it's me!" Kyle said. "And now you know I wasn't lying about my situation."

" _Well, come on in then._ " Said the doctor. " _Just please don't go crazy while you're in here._ "

Kyle chuckled. "I won't. I promise."

The man waited a few seconds as the elevator leading downstairs reached him. He stepped inside once it arrived, pressing the button to take him down.

As Crane waited to reach the laboratory, he checked to see if he still had the elixirs.

"One, two, and..." Kyle skulked around for the third one, almost breaking a sweat out of nervousness. "Three!"

And when Crane stuffed the elixirs back inside his bag, the elevator doors slid open, revealing the same old, dirty, bloodied laboratory entrance. He walked through the same mess left on the floor, which included lots of scattered paperwork, a lot of dried up blood, and some pieces of flesh and decaying limbs.

"At least the infected aren't here." Crane commented.

It took another minute, but Kyle had finally reached Camden's little "Headquarters". Here, the man had eaten, slept, and monitored the activity of the entire lab. Though, that latter task wasn't entirely necessary anymore, as Crane had taken out the infected inside and most of Rais's former men that were scattered throughout Sector 0. The most that both had to worry about now was the appearance of Hunter, though Kyle hoped that time wouldn't come soon.

"Hey there, Dr. Camden." The man commented as he stepped inside the lab, finding the doctor working on something. Though at work, he could see that the other man had glanced at him, his eyes widening just a little too much for his liking.

"Hello, Crane..." A frown began to form on the doctor's face, but he quickly changed it to a forced smile as he straightened up to talk properly.

"So... This is you..."

"Yes... This is the real me... I wish it wasn't, but it is..."

Camden nodded, his eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"So, do you have those elixirs that you wanted me to examine?"

"Yeah. They're right here." Crane answered, his hand sneaking into his bag and grabbing the three remaining vials. He handed them carefully to Dr. Camden, the other man soon raising the vials up to his face to look more closely. He could hear confused and questioning hums as the man began to walk back to his little workspace. Crane just stood rooted to his spot for a bit, waiting there so that he wouldn't frighten Dr. Camden.

"Crane, come over here for a bit." He heard the doctor call out, making him move away from his reserved spot. He stopped next to the man, who had asked him to turn around slowly.

"Why am I doing this again?"

He kept looking back and forth from the vial to the sentient volatile.

"I want to see what exactly this thing changed about you... Clearly it's done a lot."

"Gee, thanks."

Camden went up to Crane and gave him a few pats on the back.

"Don't take it too personal." A chuckle escaped from the doctor's lips as he went back to his workstation, the three vials in his grasp. He grabbed a test tube holder from a shelf, leaving it on his desk and sliding the vials inside the rack.

Kyle just decided to sit down for a bit. As he grabbed a chair from nearby, Dr. Camden began to speak again.

"So, Kyle... I have uh... a lot of questions to ask you."

Crane plopped himself on the seat and leaned it against a wall, but also facing Camden still. He let out a small sigh, but obliged to what the man had said.

"Okay." He closed his eyes and lowered his head down to his legs. "Go crazy."

He heard some more clinking sounds and shuffling from the man, but still, he waited for the questions to be fired.

"If you don't mind," Said Camden. "I'll be doing some work while we discuss."

Crane just nodded in return.

"What exactly has this infection done to you?"

"Well, there are the physical aspects, which you've already seen. I've kept some parts of myself, like my normal facial structure, but my skin had started to peel away when I first turned. My teeth have grown a bit sharper than I remember, and my hands have transformed into horrifying claws!"

He could only see Camden nod in response.

"Have you been feeling anything else?"

"Well..." Kyle wanted to mention his Volatile problem, but he wasn't fully ready to give that out. "This whole thing has been draining me and making me feel so... emotional. I- I never would have acted this way before, but this whole thing has just changed a lot about me."

"And what about those gunshot wounds? Where did they come from?"

Crane looked down at his body, the punctures still present, but already beginning to heal. His newer body had given him the ability to heal more rapidly than the standard human body.

"I got them from some of Hun-" Crane clamped his hand over his mouth suddenly. He wasn't supposed to mention the evil man just yet. That was also needed to be discussed separately.

"From who? Who's that person you were saying?"

"It's- It's this thug. He's running the Garrison again. He's taken control of Rais's old group."

Camden set his materials down on the counter. His eyes connected with Kyle's. The man's eyes were cringing in concern and confusion.

"What? They're... They're back?"

Crane let out a troubled sigh, but he let himself speak.

"Yes, Doc. The thugs are back together."

Camden shook his head in neglect, picking his things back up. Kyle could hear frustrated mumbling come from the man.

And to his surprise, the doctor suddenly lashed out by grabbing an empty flask and flinging it to a wall. He heard fuming anger escape the man's nostrils, seeing his face burning red like a stove top.

Crane got up from his seat and grabbed Dr. Camden by the shoulder. He could just feel the intensity of the rage emanate from his body.

"You need to stop those monsters, Crane!" His voice broke when he said that. "We can't let them do what they did to Zere! They'll keep on killing innocent people, as long as they can keep being on top!"

"I know, and that's why the Tower and I are trying to knock down this guy's forces."

Camden grabbed Crane's shoulders so quickly and so harsh, he actually flinched from the actions.

"You need to take him down as fast as possible." Camden's nostrils kept quaking, the man almost on the verge of tears. "That group not only killed off our higher chances of gaining a cure, but he killed off one of the few people I considered my family."

Kyle stared at the man, but he nodded in agreement.

Camden began to calm himself down a bit, moving back to work.

Kyle looked at a pen that laid vacantly on the countertop, and he grabbed it. He sat back down, beginning to twirl the pen in his hand.

He looked at Dr. Camden, who was still breathing heavily, hit had seemed to calm down now. Crane thought nothing much else, so he focused on the twirling pen.

"Crane..."

He looked back up at the doctor.

"Yeah?"

"What-" The doctor paused abruptly. "What happened to Jade?"

Crane, who had been twirling the pen, had tensed up and let the utensil fall to the floor. His eyes widened in fear, sadness, and anger. He could begin to feel the instincts wanting to push back in. His rampant feelings began to fuel the ever burning fire that the inner volatile had with it.

"Kyle? Please, tell me. What happened to her?"

Crane looked straight into Dr. Camden's eyes, his own glazed over with such hurt and regret, along with shameful, pinprick tears. All that he had felt, from the moment that Jade had died, to the final moments in which he still had been the older version of himself; it had garnered itself to such high stakes. The volatile had begun to take advantage of his weak moments. They were much more recurring, especially now more than ever.

He wanted to refrain from telling the truth. He didn't want to make things more maudlin, since, at this point, he was basically drunk with the effects of extreme pain, anger, and sadness. Crane hadn't had such moments of despair like the ones he had in his time in Harran.

" _I wasn't fucking trained for this..._ " He thought, his mind beginning to block out the sound of Dr. Camden talking to him. He felt himself beginning to space out, almost as if he were beginning to retreat inside of himself. He felt that telltale feeling of darkness edging away at him, and he was ready to let go completely. He didn't want to answer anymore. He didn't want to see anything anymore. He just wanted some form of solace and felicity.

And Crane was about to let the doors to his brain burst open, when he realized that Camden was still there. He had no idea about his problem with the Volatile.

Kyle looked at his hands, one of which was beginning to have pins and needles, signifying that the Volatile was beginning to take control.

" _What am I doing?_ " He asked himself in such a mouse-like voice. For once in such a long time, he wasn't the Hero of Harran, the one that was afraid of nothing... He was Kyle Crane once more... The man who feared the city that he was trapped in.

And he held fear again, not for himself, but for his friends.

He looked towards Dr. Camden, who had already begun to back away in a lost and fearful haze.

Before Crane could try to explain what had happened, he began to scramble his way out of the lab. He could hear the man's shouts as he retreated further into the lab, heading to the elevator. Once he got to it, he began to slam his clenched fist onto the 'Up' button.

The elevator slowly began to rise back up to the surface, when Camden's voice rang from an intercom.

" _Crane, what's wrong?_ " His voice held such strains of poignant feelings. " _What's happening?_ "

"I'm changing! The Volatile... it was beginning to take me over while we were in there."

" _Crane, try stopping it. Maybe that could he-_ "

"IT DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY, DOC!" His mouth formed into a snarl from the sheer anger and frustration. He could feel the Volatile slowly consume him. Those angry feelings he felt... weren't his at all. It almost seemed like the creature was beginning to bind to him...

" _Crane! You have to-_ "

Kyle didn't listen anymore. He had let the monster take over now. His last action was to release a loud scream, his body bending forward, his back forming a crude arch. His claws began to clench into the hard plastic floor.

And the screams still resonated from the creature.

* * *

Camden had witnessed it all with his eyes. He had seen the troubled version of Crane. He had seen the panic mode of the man.

He had even witnessed the transition of Kyle to the Volatile. It had all been horrible.

"So horrible..."

* * *

 _ **Readers, I am VERY sorry that I went so long without updating. Life's been very busy and a bit stressful since my last update. I started school, had to deal with a lot of AP work, and also had to deal with the some trouble moving to another city. I've been trying to adapt in my new home and school. It's alright now, but yeah, it's been sort of bleh for me.**_

 _ **I'll try my best to update again, but I can't guarantee anything.**_

 _ **But I do hope you enjoyed this chapter.**_


	21. Chapter 21: Act 2

_**City of ruins, the one that holds age**_

 _ **Endless crumbling, the ones that hold rage**_

 _ **The God of the Sun, the only one to fear**_

 _ **For what he does, will only cause the future to break**_

* * *

The moonlit drizzle lightly tapped on the Volatile's body as it raised its nose high up, sniffing carefully to pick up on any sort of prey. It's eyes squinted, claws clenching and unclenching once in a while.

And as it began to break its concentration, the lightest stench of fresh blood had been caught by its nose. The aroma immediately made its mouth water vigorously, making it grow excited and energized.

The Volatile released a very loud screech that echoed throughout Old Town's many abandoned buildings and dark crevices. It began to sprint towards the noise, the smell only acting as its driving force.

" _ **Kill...**_ " It grumbled darkly. It pushed on, clawing away at any obstacles preventing it from going forward. Zombie guts spilled left and right, painting the Volatile's face a grotesque red. It forcibly rammed into a horde, their bodies like a weak wall. As it did this, the walkie talkie strapped to its body had broken off, falling to the floor while the monster continued on.

After a few minutes, it finally arrived at the source of the scent. It sniffed again, finding that the smell was coming from a building.

The monster screeched loudly again, alerting any nearby Virals to come to the area. As it began to claw at the steel door, the screams of the infected began to echo and originate from all directions. The Volatile' sears were not filled with that sound though. Instead, it's ears heard the pleasing, melodic sound of light whimpers and small screams.

The creature only raised the amount of strength it was using in order to break in. Pieces of shredded metal flew about, the claw marks in the door only growing deeper with each strike. The screams of the adults, and what could also be heard as a couple of human children too, continued.

Virals ran amuck, screaming and trying to find any entrances to the building, furiously trying to get to the same prey.

And at last, the Volatile's claws pierced a couple of small, gaping holes into the door. It licked its lips furiously, already tasting the blood and meat in its mouth.

" _ **Kill...!**_ "

* * *

She could hear the sound of the nightmares outside. Their screeches and screams always struck at her heart, making her body quiver and sweat with sheer terror and fear.

The little girl felt her legs turn to jelly, with her heart skipping a beat at the sound of the metal door being pounded on. She began to rush to her family, despite her weak legs protesting from moving.

She could see the same expressions of fear and worry on all of their faces. Her parents held fear, but held a sort of last resort determination. Her two older brothers, scared to death and shivering wildly, had a sort of blazing passion that felt as if only the strongest of forces would only be able to put their fire out.

The screeches outside only grew more and more now, with one of them being extra loud and extra scary. Their screams only made her scream out loud. She saw the door beginning to bend inwards a bit, her throat still playing loudly.

And as she was about to scream again, her twin brother grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to him. She saw his face, worried, yet he still held enough willpower to be able to grab her by the hand and lead her to one of the rooms. There, he instructed her to crawl down into the bottom of a bed.

"I don't want to leave you all..." She whimpered softly. "I want you all to be here with me."

Her brother just shook his head, not letting any sort of sound escape his mouth. He feared the death he surely would face, but he held more fear for the death of his only sister. He hugged her tightly, letting a few tears of sorrow escape and land on her shoulder.

And when the sound of the metal door beginning to pound loudly sounded, he quickly let her go and pushed her to the ground.

"Get under the bed... And don't come out until it's safe."

He kneeled down and kissed her forehead, grabbing blankets and pillows and other objects to try and block the opening below the bed.

The boy began to rush out when he heard the sound of screams come from his family. He looked back one more time at the place where his sister hid. His face gave away one last smile before he grabbed a small knife from the duffel bag on the floor.

He looked towards the direction of the door, finding his family being overwhelmed by many Virals. He could see a lone infected, towering over everything else in the room. Fear pumped throughout his veins, yet he felt a sort of homeostasis in his mind. He knew his sacrifice would help his sister stay alive.

The Volatile caught sight of the lone boy, screeching and doing a long swipe against everything around it - Items, infected, and his family included. They were all sliced and damaged. The infected died almost immediately, taking the full force. His family did not share the same fate, as they were now crippled to the floor, blood gushing out from deep gashes on their bodies.

It stepped forward, slowly reaching its target, but it was abruptly stopped by a hand gripping at its ankle. It looked down, finding the hand of the father grabbing its ankle, preventing it from going any further.

With little effort, the Volatile grabbed the man's arm, lifting him up into the air like a rag doll, before slamming him into a wall. The sound of bones shattering earned a gasp and a cry from the family. They repeated the same thing as they saw the life in the man's eyes rapidly fading away, his once living body now limp and lifeless.

The Volatile stepped towards the remaining family members, grabbing the mother this time. As it began to lift her up, it felt a searing pain shoot in its side. It screeched in pain, flinging the woman to the side as to try and stop the pain that burned madly. A knife stuck out, the boy who had it now backing away and looking at the monster in front of him.

The creature swiftly grabbed the boy by the neck, the child now gasping for air as the hand wrapped around his neck tightened. He looked with such horror as he saw the Volatile begin to recoil its arm, his fate now only the same as his father's. He waited for the impact, but instead heard the ear-piercing sound of gunshots. He was immediately let go, air rushing back into his lungs as he fell to the floor. He slowly looked around, finding his mother still firing away, her blood pooling around her. His two older brothers had gotten back up and prepared to attack, even as their wounds kept oozing more and more blood.

The Volatile screeched loudly once more, before stepping forward and heading straight for the remaining few. The little boy backed away, while his other family members only went forward. He saw his mom's fearful eyes one last time, before the monster grabbed her head and slammed it to the floor, crushing parts of her head.

His eyes teared up, but his fire grew as well. He rushed angrily at the monster, clinging to its back while it tried to attack his brothers. He tried to jam his fingers into its eyes, but he kept on missing.

The creature, now furious, swiped both of its claws forward, striking at the two young men. Their faces filled with shock, their eyes draining rapidly of life.

And finally, the boy looked around, seeing a sight he wished to never see.

He saw his sister, her wide eyes filled with sadness and fear.

He opened his mouth to try and make her leave, when he felt the Volatile rapidly move back. Suddenly, he felt his entire body impact a wall. His body screamed in pain for a few seconds before he succumbed to it and began to black out.

With bloodied words, he spoke one last time.

"I'm sorry..."

* * *

The girl backed away as she saw the Volatile move forward. Her brother's body slowly slid off of it, his body collapsing to a lifeless heap. She tearfully turned around, accepting what was to come. She waited for a claw strike, or a hand grabbing at her, but it never came. She slowly turned around, finding the monster frozen into place. It had its claw raised, ready to strike down at her.

She only looked over it once more before she also succumbed to exhaustion and the many emotions that she had. Her mind shut down and her legs gave away.

She had fainted to the floor.

* * *

Kyle had witnessed the entire massacre. He had tried his hardest to fight the Volatile into submission.

But even with so much effort, the thing had failed to comply. He had to witness the horror of seeing an entire family being gruesomely killed. Each kill had been like a gunshot to his chest, making him feel sick and disgusted.

He thought it was over. That the killing spree had finally halted...

And that's when both him and the Volatile caught sight of the little girl. He could feel the vibration of his body as the Volatile screeched loudly, ready to tear apart the girl to pieces. The girl, who had collapsed to the floor, became completely vulnerable to the monster.

Crane felt his anger surge again. He tried again.

He began to fight against the Volatile, trying to grab ahold of his senses and actions again. He felt his spiritual chest grow hotter and brighter, his passion and determination now burning like the power of a thousand suns. And with every last bit of his light, Crane let out the power and began to overflow his body with it, drowning out the Volatile's control. He began to feel the gentle touch of cold air coat his fingertips, signaling that he was beginning to gain himself back again.

Kyle continued to pour his power out, inundating his entire being so that he could push away the Volatile. The pins and needles he had were now spreading throughout his body, his arms now retracting as he commanded them to do so. He could still feel the Volatile fighting, but now, with his very last drop, he shoved it away, back into the recesses of his head.

Crane let a few gulps of air get into his lungs, as they were temporarily unused during his conversion. He sighed out, his eyes landing on the girl's form. His mouth formed into a grim smile as he gently grabbed her, carrying her to an open room. There, he left her on the bed, shutting the door behind him. He let out another sigh of shame as he leaned against the door.

"I need to get some help for her." He blurted out. "I can't leave her here by herself... She needs someone to take her in..."

Crane thought carefully as to how he could try and get the girl help. He couldn't just step right up to the Loft, or else he'd be shot and killed before he could even let a word out.

"Wait, my walkie!" He said ecstatically, reaching to his side strap. However, his fingers only gripped empty space. His eyes scrunched together in confusion as he looked down to find that the strap it had been hooked onto had broken. It was gone.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" He yelled in fury. His hand went up to his forehead, running through his short hair. He had no way of talking with anyone now. The only thing he could think of that could call someone to this location is a gunshot or a flare. This, however, would put him in danger, as the residents could attack him or he could be slowed down by the UV Flares.

"It's the only way..." Kyle spoke as he grabbed a flare from his bag. He looked at the door one last time.

"I'm sorry..." His voice was hoarse as he stepped out of the home, climbing his way up to the top of the building. When he finally reached it, he breathed in and out.

"Do it... Just do it for the girl..."

Crane ripped the cap off of the flare, igniting it. Instantly, the bright UV light glowed. It rapidly began to cover his body, making him glow that telltale sickly orange.

And not much to his surprise, Kyle could feel his skin burning like crazy. He groaned in agony, throwing the flare to his feet. He stepped away from the light, the intense pain beginning to fade as he strayed further away from it.

He began to run away, knowing very well that someone would see the flare. As he looked back, he swore he could feel the Volatile within him chuckling darkly.

* * *

Michael had stayed out as he usually did. He would just gaze at the stars and let his mind run. It was one of the many things that kept him busy and calm.

But what he didn't expect was to see the faint glow of a flare very far off in the distance. He rubbed his eyes, just in case he was hallucinating, but still, it stayed illuminated.

He grabbed his walkie and spoke, "Troy, I think something's going on."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there's a flare going off near Benedict the Great Plaza."

"What? Why would anybody be there at this time?"

"I don't know. Maybe they just accidentally set a flare off?"

"But that still doesn't explain why someone would be near there during nighttime. It's far too dangerous, especially in a horde-infested place like that!"

"Michael, I want you to alert any runners and tell them to head to that location. Perhaps something more serious may be occurring..."

"Okay. Will do."

Michael cut the talk and immediately began to call to other runners. Though briefly explained, the runners didn't really want to try and complain. Troy was very resilient and strict when it came to potentially saving another person.

* * *

Kyle watched from a distance as the small group of what seemed to be runners began to arrive. A few stayed guarding the exterior, while a few others began to rush inside the building. After a few minutes, he could hear yells, alerting the others of the little girl.

Crane felt relieved to see the little girl being carried away, taken straight to a safe zone.

"I hope she's okay..." He commented as he began to trek his way to the path that led to the sewer entrance. Hopefully he could get back to the Slums in time.

* * *

The runners began to head back to the University. They performed their task quickly, as nighttime was still here. They didn't want to get caught in a fight with any Volatiles or Night Walkers.

The little girl they had saved was left on a couch that Kyle Crane had used a few times during his pit stops in the University. His designated duffel bag laid next to the makeshift bed.

As they left the girl to rest, the group began to make contact with Troy. They informed her of what they had found. Though shocked and horrified, she was relieved to find out that at least someone had survived the slaughter that occurred in that building.

"Let the girl rest for now. I bet she's been through a lot."

"What are we going to do with her once she wakes up?"

"I'll... I'll try to talk with her. Hopefully she can tell us more about what happened..."

* * *

The little girl began to wake up, her eyes fluttering open. She was expecting to find everything from the night before gone. She wasn't sure where she was, but she now knew that what had happened was all real. Her family had been massacred right in front of her.

She began to cry, sobbing loudly. Her cries alerted a few people, including Troy, who had stopped by early in the morning. A few people had begun to look into the place where the girl was, while Troy had already begun to kneel down to the girl's level.

"Hey. Hey. Hey. It's okay." She said lightly. "You're okay now."

"W-where am I? Who are you?"

"My name is Troy. You're in the Harran University, sweetie. A few of their runners saved you from a building you were in."

"M-My family... They're..."

Troy closed her eyes, grabbing the girl's hands gently.

"I'm sorry... You're family is..."

The little girl nodded, her eyes still spilling many tears.

"I know... I saw it happen..."

Troy grew confused now. When did she have the chance to see her family's murders?

"I'm sorry for asking, but do you know what happened?"

The little girl nodded. "T-The Volatile... It attacked our safe place. I-It just kept banging the door with its claws. It even called some more of the infected with its screeches. I was so scared, but my brother took me and hid me away before anything bad could happen to me."

"I didn't pay attention to what he said though... I got out. I thought that they had driven away the infected... But all I saw was my entire family laying on the floor. The only person I saw left before I fainted was my brother. He said something I couldn't hear."

Troy waited till the girl finally stopped. Then, she spoke.

"Wait, you said a Volatile did this?"

"Yes. It broke into our home and attacked us."

" _Volatiles aren't even smart enough to try and break a metal door..._ " Troy thought. " _What kind of Volatile was this?_ "

"Do you mind telling me more about this Volatile?"

"I-It wasn't like a normal Volatile. This one had thicker claws. Its skin looked less pale than a normal one. It even had an intact jaw. It wore a yellow shirt and some brown pants. It's face looked so much like a normal person..."

Troy listened, slightly intrigued by the description. Something about it all made her feel like something was off. She wanted to contact Kyle for some assistance with this, but she went against it. She didn't want to interrupt any business he may have had right now.

Instead, she immediately issued a BOLO for the Volatile. It seemed that this particular one was more than just a normal nightmare. They needed to get rid of it before it continued to rampage through the city.

* * *

"Crane? Come in, Crane."

No response came through the white noise. Brecken grew a tad bit frustrated, but he tried his best to brush it off. What that man had gone through was just too much, so complaining about his absence wouldn't exactly be the best thing to do.

But he still felt a slight hint of worry in his chest. Something felt off... Something wasn't right...

And again, he shook the feeling away. He tried contacting the man again, but like before, nothing came through.

"Damn it." He grunted. "And we're running low on supplies too."

He had no choice. He had to send some of the Tower's new Scouts to retrieve supplies. Though it wasn't a very hard task, they weren't fully trained. With Crane gone for such a long while and Brecken being one of the only people left who was experienced with free running, there wasn't a lot of time to teach them properly. They had barely even made it while trying to kill Crane, but even that mission had turned to a failure.

He couldn't risk it...

" _But these people will die..._ " He thought. " _These supplies are essential. If they aren't retrieved, our supplies will run out._ "

He let himself cave in to the idea.

Brecken grabbed his walkie, contacting Alfie.

"Alfie, I need you to gather the Scouts."

"What?! The new batch?"

"Yes. I need you to send them off to find some supplies. We're beginning to run low, and since Kyle hasn't returned, we need to send others to gather things."

"Brecken, these Scouts aren't done with their training yet. They still have a couple more weeks to go before they even get done with the more complicated aspects of free running!"

"Alfie, we're treading on thin ice right now. These supplies are needed right now, or else we'll start seeing the consequences!"

Silence played out for a few second from the other line, but it was quickly broken.

"Fine... I-I'll go get them ready. But we just need to hope that nothing happens to them."

"Okay... Thank you, Alfie..."

* * *

The scouts prepared their items, readying themselves for their second assignment. They felt anxious, yet oddly excited to finally go out and do something. Hopefully this could give them some more experience on how the outside world is.

The group, which consisted of five Scouts, began to align themselves side by side. They saw as Brecken walked into the room.

"So, as you five already know, we are beginning to run out of supplies. With Crane in Old Town and a lack of Scouts in our group, the decision was made to assign you five to retrieve the supplies. Though it may sound like an easy job, the outside world will not oblige to difficulties."

"It will throw all it can do at you. You need to be prepared for anything, be it the infected or some thugs."

The Scouts nodded sternly, their faces serious.

"Okay... Clara?"

"Present!"

"James?"

"Here."

"Pete?"

"I'm here."

"Ali?"

"I'm ready!"

"And Linda?"

"Ready Boss!"

"Okay then. Get out there!" Brecken exclaimed. "And be safe. Don't try and get yourselves killed."

The group nodded in unison. As they began to jog their way out, Brecken looked at where they stood.

"God... Please protect them..."

* * *

The Scouts jogged their way through the scattered infected.

Once in a while, a Scout would be forced to dodge and attack. Their bodies would jump like a frog, attacks as fierce as a cobra's. Though they were not fully experienced in combat, they proved to be more than capable of handling the task at hand.

The small group pushed on. Their destination was the Stuffed Turtle Market. It seemed that some survivors had temporarily stayed there, but met the unfortunate fate of infection. However, everything they left behind could still be used.

"C'mon guys!" Ali shouted. "Were almost there. I know that we've got this in the bag!"

And just as they began to run a bit faster, a loud gunshot rang out. Most of the Scouts had covered themselves with their arms. All except Ali kept themselves covered. It only took a moment, but the group soon realized something was wrong.

And to their horror, Ali began to collapse to the floor, a gaping hole right in his head. Clara covered her gaping mouth as she approached the man's body, while the other three members followed behind her in shock.

Clara turned Ali's body over, seeing his expressionless and bloodied face.

"Something isn't right." She said. "Someone did this on purpose. There's no way someone accidentally aimed point blank to his head."

"What do we do?"

"For now, we leave. We can't take his body. We'll be set back more than we should be."

"But-"

"No buts!" Clara said sternly, her face worried. "Right now we need to leave before we turn out like Ali!"

The others looked frightened, but they agreed. The small group pressed forward, leaving their poor teammate's body behind.

—

"We got one boss!"

"That's great news! But was that the only Scout they let go?"

"No. There are still four more members on the Scout group."

"Well... You know what to do, Yavuz."

"Yes, Boss."

* * *

The group had been ambushed by a horde of infected. Clara and Linda had been caught in a corner by a fair number of the pests, with James and Pete trying their absolute best to join and assist them.

The group fought hard. But as one zombie fell, another two or three replaced it, only causing their stamina to falter and strength to diminish.

So when Clara and Linda had finally killed off the infected they had, they began to rush towards the two men.

And suddenly, a very bright explosion blew the two women back, making them fall to the floor in pain.

Clara looked up slowly, her back aching from the impact. She saw the scattered remains of both zombies and the two other Scouts.

"Holy shit..." Her eyes widened in fear as she began to grab Linda. "Get up! We have to go now!"

"Wh... What happened?"

"Someone's ambushed us! We need to go now!"

Clara began to lift Linda up, keeping her upright by wrapping her arm around her shoulder.

"Linda, you've got to get yourself together."

"I... I can't. My head feels like it's splitting open."

"You'll be fine. You'll be fine." She spoke, but her mind told her otherwise. "You'll be fine."

The screams of the infected felt like they came from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Clara felt her head spinning in confusion and anxiety.

And once again, the two women were blown away, swept from their feet, and thrown to the floor. Linda groaned lightly as Clara propped herself up with her arms. She could see silhouettes in the smoke of the explosion.

One loud gunshot had seemed to quiet Linda's groaning completely.

Clara had no other choice.

She closed her eyes and accepted what was to come. She felt her mind beginning to become tranquil again, with old memories putting her in a peaceful trance.

And before those thoughts could continue, another gunshot rang out and Clara had died, along with her replayed memories.

* * *

 ** _Hey there, Readers! I hope you enjoyed that chapter. It was a bit of a challenge for me, as I haven't really written chapters this long before._**

 ** _Also, I can't believe it, but tomorrow officially marks the one year anniversary of this story. While it has had its ups and downs, I have tried my best to keep it alive and well. Though, I can't give credit to just myself. I also have to thank all of you. If it wasn't for all of you and your great reception, I probably wouldn't have continued with this story. So, I will say it again. Thank you so much!_**

 ** _And lastly, before I go off, I'd like to thank ThePrecursor'sArchitect and Johnson. Due to their recent responses, I gained more ideas to use that I had actually never even thought about. These two are just awesome, and I just really wanted to shout them out for what they've done for both me and this story recently. :)_**

 ** _So, to close this off, I'd like to state that, as a way of commemorating the story's first anniversary, I may or may not post a one shot that could give a little insight on what's to come in the future. It all just depends on my availability. ;)_**

 ** _Good night and good luck readers._**

\- **_UraSub_**


	22. Chapter 22

Crane began to jog his way through the sewer system. His legs ached, as did the deep wounds he gained from the family's last stand.

Though still keeping a consistent pace, Kyle kept thinking back to that moment.

" _I killed that girl's family..._ " He thought. " _I killed them so horribly... So quickly..._ "

He sighed, not wanting to think about it anymore. It now became another grave reminder of what exactly he had become now. He didn't want to be reminded, but it seemed that the world would always wake him back up to reality when he least expected it.

Crane began to slow down now, his legs not wanting to move anymore. The wounds were only beginning to heal now, the infection's abilities allowing for such a thing to occur.

He began to sit down on the grimy sewer floor, inspecting his side. The wound was blanketed in a crusty layer of blackened blood, the opening already having dried out. Crane reached towards it, running his fingers gently over it. He flinched at the lightest touch, his face contorting lightly.

"Fuck." He hissed as he began to rummage through his pack, searching for a cloth and a bottle of alcohol. Quickly, he rinsed the blood off with a water bottle. Eventually, he got the items and began to make a medkit, softly applying the alcohol-drenched gauze onto his wound. He then grabbed a few pieces of duct tape and taped the gauze into place.

Kyle felt other wounds throughout his body, but he knew they weren't as bad as this one. His body would heal those a lot quicker than this particular one.

Crane let himself rest a bit longer, grabbing an energy bar from his bag, along with a bottle of water. He scarfed the bar down, chugging the drink afterwards. His stomach grumbled with satisfaction, a weak smile emerging onto the man's face.

Now he began to lay back a bit, allowing his mind to finally think peacefully, with no sort of threat hindering his train of thought.

" _I hope I get back to the Tower in time... God only knows what they're suffering through right now..._ "

He looked around, his ears picking up the sound of screeching. He brushed it off as an infected, his brain continuing to think away.

"I wonder what the girl is going through right now." He commented, his mind slowly retracing itself back to that topic. "I wish I could take that moment back. I wish I could take all of this back. If I could just go back and stop Rais, stop The Mother-"

He paused as he thought about others as well.

"Stop Jade and Rahim... God... Maybe everything would be different now..."

His mind began to shift suddenly into a dark place; Their deaths. Crane looked at his hands with a form of disgust.

"Why the hell do I ruin everything?" His face grimaced, his mouth curving into a hurt and saddened scowl, showing his newer, more sharpened teeth. His mind began to fade away again, but he shook away the impure thoughts before it could go any further.

"I could have stopped this...!" He choked a bit. "I-I could have saved you, Rahim... Zere... Jade..."

He shut his eyes solemnly...

* * *

" _Than why didn't you?_ "

Crane recoiled in astonishment as he immediately registered the voice he heard. He looked around at emptiness.

"What the fuck do you want!?" He yelled at empty space, covering his eyes with his palms. "Why can't you just leave me the fuck alone!?"

" _You were never alone, Kyle._ " The Mother's voice echoed. " _I'm always inside your head._ "

"Shut the hell up! You're fake! You can't trick me, you bitch!"

The Mother immediately appeared right in front of him. She firmly grabbed Kyle by his bottom jaw, her claws digging into his cheeks. He looked into her piercing, bloodshot eyes with despair.

" _Is this not real enough for you, Kyle!?_ " Her voice boomed all around him. " _Do you think you're always alone inside your head!? Wake up! You've got to get it inside your puny brain that you will never be relieved of me!_ "

"That's not true...!" Crane gasped, trying to shut his eyes. "I will conquer this! I-I will!"

The Mother tilted her head a bit in question, before beginning to cackle loudly.

" _You!_ " The Mother said, gripping Crane once more, but tightening with every word. " _You! Are! A! Joke! Kyle! Crane!_ "

She lifted him up by the neck and whisked him away to the side. He landed on nothing, but still felt a jab of pain on his side.

" _You will never save your friends. They were doomed the instant you landed inside these walls._ "

"No! That's a lie."

" _Oh, but is it Kyle?_ " She gazed at him with amusement, beginning to walk back and forth in a straight line. " _Did you forget your first weeks in Harran?_ "

" _Poor Rahim... He thought he was strong enough. He wanted to prove himself to Jade... To Brecken... To You..!_ "

She looked at Crane again.

" _And what did it get him? A bite. And a bite that you failed to notice, even when it was right in front of you!_ "

Crane shut his eyes tightly, trying to block out her voice. Nothing was working.

" _And Dr. Zere. Oh, the old man was quite a gem in this trash-hole._ "

" _If you had arrived on time to his trailer, perhaps he'd be alive! And you'd probably be just fine._ "

"Shut up! Just shut the fuck up!"

" _And sweet Jade..._ "

"Don't you fucking say anything anymore, you fucking HAG!" Crane screamed, hot tears streaming down his face as he tried to swipe at the Mother. She disappeared, only emerging again behind him.

" _You could have saved her, you know. If you had just saved her brother. If you had just saved Zere in time..._ "

" _If you had just kept the Antizin hidden instead of destroying it..._ "

"NO! FUCK! OFF!" Crane felt himself explode with anger, and now the pitch-Black area began to tremble.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, beginning to push everything away. He could feel the Mother, but could also feel the Volatile. In desperation, he grabbed hold of the Volatile's aura, grasping on to it as everything else, including the Mother, began to get sucked far away, deep into the farthest recesses of his mind.

" _You'll see the consequences of your actions soon enough, Kyle! Just you wait and see...!_ " Her voice boomed one last time before everything went dead silent.

Crane closed his eyes in anger and shame, before tugging hard on the aura he held.

* * *

Bright rays of sunlight began to blind his eyes as he finally began to emerge.

Kyle squinted as he lifted a hand up to his eyes, shielding them from the light. He began to look around, trying to find out where he was.

"I'm still in the tunnels..." He mumbled lowly. He immediately remembered about Troy and the little girl.

"I've gotta get back to the Tower." He groaned as he began to hastily scramble back up. "I need to tell Troy what's happened. I need to tell that girl that I'm sorry."

He snatched his discarded bag, now beginning to retreat further into the darkness of the tunnels.

* * *

Troy sat on the floor, facing the little girl that the Embers had saved. She laid on Crane's makeshift bed, snoring lightly as she flinched in her sleep.

"God, what really happened in there?" She whispered, seeing the girl flinch once more. "How much shit did that Volatile do?"

She reached her hand out to lightly touch the girl on her shoulder. Immediately when she made contact, the girl began to panic, small whimpers now increasing into louder screams. Her body almost seemed to be seizing. The entire thing sent shivers of panic and absolute terror shooting throughout her body.

"Wake up!" Troy exclaimed loudly, shaking the girl with some force. "Wake up! You've got to wake up!"

The girl's eyes now opened, shooting in different directions. She shot up from where she laid, her breath faltering. Tears involuntarily began to spill from her eyes, her emotions now beginning to erupt wildly. Sobs rang out, a crying mess now sitting next to Troy.

She immediately locked the girl into a hug, her caring nature now emerging. Troy ran her hand softly down the girl's hair, trying to calm the child down.

"You're okay..." She consoled the girl. "You're okay now... Don't worry..."

The girl slowly calmed down again, beginning to fall back into a slumber. Troy sighed in relief, but felt a pang if anger hit her gut.

"I swear to God, that fucking Volatile better be found!"

She knew that many people weren't exactly hunting it down either. They feared it, as did anyone when it came to a Volatile. Only a select few, the most skilled and powerful of the Scouts and Runners, had gone out to look for that thing.

"I need to find a way to get people to hunt that... that Monster!" She exclaimed as she leaned forward on the windowsill. "Think Troy! THINK!"

She scrunched her face as she thought intensely. Nothing came up. Nothing at all.

Troy began to head down to try and come up with something. Perhaps Savvy would get an idea.

When she went down, she found Savvy and Michael talking to each other. Savvy had a set of dried food to his side, a grin on his face.

"If you can kill off at least 5 zombies, than this-" Savvy lightly tapped the small box. "This'll be yours."

Michael smiled in response.

"You drive a hard bargain, Sav." Michael commented, but he accepted. He shook the man's hand.

Troy felt her brain beginning to create an idea. And finally, it popped into life.

"A reward!" She exclaimed, surprising the two men that had failed to realize she was there. "That's it! We can give a reward for hunting down the Volatile!"

Michael and Savvy looked at each other in confusion, before getting up.

"Troy, what are you talking about?" Savvy asked. "Why do you want to give away rewards for hunting down that thing?"

"Savvy, don't you get it? We need more people to go out there and try to kill that monster!"

The man let his lips slant in disapproval.

"Troy, I don't think that's such a great idea." He stated with harsh honesty. "I mean, what are the chances that people will actually be willing to kill a literal Volatile?"

"Don't underestimate the people. When it calls for supplies, they are willing to kill anyone, even Crane, who is probably one of our only remaining chances at escaping this hell."

"So, you're willing to put those same people at risk of being killed?" Savvy began to grow angry, something that Troy wasn't used to. It was such a foreign experience. "You're being selfish, Troy! You shouldn't allow these people to sign a suicide pact!"

"But the Volatile-"

"That Volatile shouldn't be such a big concern for you! These people need a leader who can guide them through this hell with safety and ease, not a risk-taker willing to turn them into a death statistic!"

Troy felt frustrated at being denied the idea, but she also felt a bit of shame knowing that Savvy was making very great points. She couldn't send them out just because of her own need for vengeance.

"Troy, please. You've got to understand, I'm telling you this in order to prevent deaths. We barely know anything about this Volatile, yet we are very much so aware of its killing capabilities. If even one person tries to fight that thing, they're gone!"

Troy nodded slowly.

"I'm sorry, Savvy." She said, her face holding hints of disappointment. "I-I guess I was just being a bit too hotheaded. I don't know what came over me, but seeing how terrified that girl is, it made me so angry, so protective."

Savvy's face turned into a solemn form of happiness. He walked up to the woman, lightly putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Troy, we understand how you feel," He said. "We want to help as much as we can, but perhaps it's best that we take this whole situation a bit slower. Hopefully that Volatile won't try and break into another building soon."

"Yeah... Let's do that." Troy mumbled.

The two stood in silence for a few seconds, before Michael finally broke the mood.

"So... That was a bit surprising..." He chuckled lightly, eyeing both Savvy and Troy. "I've never seen you both so out of character."

The three looked at each other, before laughing lightly amongst themselves.

Troy still felt the vengeance in the back of her mind, but it was so weak, that she felt no worry about it ever manifesting once more.

* * *

Brecken walked towards Alfie's room, ready to talk with the Scouts. He held a smile, ecstatic to find out if they were successful in their mission.

He stepped into the room, but found only Alfie inside, sitting down and his head in his hands.

"Alfie, what's wrong?" He asked, looking around in question. "W-Where are the Scouts?"

The man looked up from his place, an angry scowl on his face. Brecken could just see the flames of fury burning behind the man's eyes.

"I fucking told you they weren't prepared yet!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, astonishing the leader a bit. "I fucking told you! I should have listened to my own guts! Why didn't I listen?!"

"Alfie, what the hell is going on?!" Brecken now asked in a stronger tone.

"The fucking Scouts are dead, Brecken!" He shouted, his anger emanating so much. "You sent them out there, knowing very well they weren't fully experienced yet. YOU are responsible for their deaths!"

Brecken looked at the man in utter disbelief, his eyes widening, while he felt his body begin to quake in agony, shame, and a rising anger. He looked at Alfie again, his eyes beginning to water a bit.

"No..." The man whimpered a bit. "No, they can't be..."

He said nothing anymore, but still went to a wall, leaning against it. And in an angry fit, Brecken began to slam the wall, caving it in almost instantly. His teeth were gritting from the anger and the pain, yet he continued. Blood began to seep from this hand, but he didn't stop.

And he was about to slam even harder when Alfie had gripped his wrist forcibly.

"You need to keep yourself in check, Harris!" He spoke sternly. "Your stupid pissy fit isn't going to bring them back!"

Brecken looked at him with anger, before shoving him away.

"Don't tell me what to do!" He shouted loudly, his face turning a hot red.

"Don't tell you what to do? If you had just listened to what I had said and just not sent out the rookies, they'd still be alive!"

"Just shut up!"

Alfie immediately went up to the man, shoving him to the wall, hard.

"Brecken, you need to listen. This whole thing was YOUR mistake. You need to take it like a man and admit that you are responsible!"

Brecken scowled again, but was able to lift his arm quickly enough to send a fist flying at Alfie's face. The man was sent backwards, his hand immediately going to his nose, which began to gush spurts of bright, red blood. Alfie looked at the leader with shame, shaking his head in disapproval, before walking out of the room. Brecken wanted to reach out and call to him, yet he felt some anger still. Anger that pulled him to stop from apologizing.

He grew serious, his eyebrows furrowed.

Brecken began to walk out of the room, ready to go back up again, when he was stopped by a mother and her child.

"I'm sorry, sir, but do you think you can spare us some food?" She asked politely. "My child and I are hungry, but we haven't had any sort of meal since a couple days ago. Even if you can't grant me any food, please just spare some for my child."

Brecken looked at her, than at the child. He felt the anger wash away, only to be replaced with traces of remorse.

"I-I..." He stuttered. "I... I will check upstairs to see if we can give you something. Please, stay put on this floor for now."

The woman nodded, a small smile forming. She led her child to a wall, sitting down and propping him to her side. Brecken looked at them, before entering the elevator and pressing the button to head up.

He leaned his head against the wall, facing away from the entrance. He sighed heavily as he tried to think.

And once the elevator arrived, he turned back around and opened the door, stepping out. He began to head to the supply room, rushing quickly in order to prevent any encounters with Alfie.

And when he arrived at the room's doorstep, he found the room open, but with nobody inside. I'm a haste, he quickly went in, looking at the dwindling amount of supplies. His hand reached towards a few cans of soup, but he began to hesitate.

" _Don't do this, Harris._ " He thought. " _You shouldn't be stealing from your own people._ "

"But I need to. It's for that poor mother and her child..." He spoke to no one.

" _But I was also the one that kicked out that guy and his brother a year ago for doing the exact same thing. He only wanted to provide stuff for his brother..._ "

Brecken looked at the items in pain...

And he began to rush back out, a total of 4 soup cans tucked under his arm.

* * *

"Thank you, sir!" The boy exclaimed, hugging Brecken by the leg.

The mother went up to the man, grabbing both of his hands and shaking them.

"Thank you, Mister! Thank you so much!" She said, as she finally let go of Brecken's hands, grabbing her bag and her child's hand, before heading to the elevator, readying to go back upstairs.

Brecken kept a forced smile on himself, at least until the two had left. Than he let it droop away to a shamed frown.

He headed back to Alfie's room, where the man had still not presented himself again. He went to his chair, sitting down on it. Brecken let his thoughts go wild now.

"I need to send more Scouts out." He stated. "The residents won't be able to sustain that small amount any longer. Another couple of days, and we'll be done for."

Brecken closed his eyes with a sigh, running his hand through his hair. He let his fingers travel lightly to the scar on his head, the one he had retrieved from the failed night run a year earlier. He touched the soft, smooth bump that was the scar with his rough, battle-hardened fingers.

"Do it, Harris..." He thought as he began to turn his head towards the radio. He gazed at it, still letting thoughts clash over his conflicting feelings.

He just needed to call them. It wouldn't be hard. Just one call and they'd come down, ready to leave. That's all that was needed.

Brecken sighed, stood up, and walked over to the radio. He grabbed the microphone, pressing a button to make contact with the Scouts.

* * *

Brecken sat on Alfie's seat, watching as the last remaining Scouts now began to pile into the little room. A group of 6, which now made this situation a lot harder, as they were the very last batch. There weren't anymore good chances of getting a success with anyone else besides the Scouts.

"Okay, I think you all know why you're here." He spoke. "I need you to perform an essential task, which is to grab some supplies from the Stuffed Turtle. Not only that, but I also want you to try and find the bodies of the previous Scouts."

Some loud gasps came from the group, who was still unaware of their companion's deaths.

"Yes, I know..." Brecken said in a grim tone. "I... feel very bad about it too. But, I'd like you 6 to perform this task, not only with more caution, but also with more ease, as you've had experience already with the outside."

"I thought the others were capable," He said. "But... perhaps I sent them out there too soon."

He shook away some of the negative energy, replacing it with a pseudo mask of inspiration.

"But go out there," He shouted with energy. "And do great! I want you guys back here with supplies in your pockets and smiles of joy beaming at you all!"

The group all nodded, small smiles plastered onto their faces. They began to pile out of the room, but Brecken quickly grabbed the last person and dragged them aside quickly.

"Here, take this." He whispered, handing the Scout a walkie-talkie. "Call Alfie's radio if anything happens."

The Scout nodded, his eyebrows furrowing in a firm agreement. He, too, began to head away, back out to the dangerous Slums.

Brecken watched them go, but he began to feel something growing in the pit of his stomach. Anxiety filled his body, but he shoved it away, not wanting to think of anything else but the group's safety.

* * *

"He what!?" Lena's voice boomed, making Alfie flinch.

"He sent the rookie Scouts on a supply run." Alfie looked gloomily at the floor. "I told him it was a bad idea. I told him that they weren't ready yet. Yet, he still sent them because he believed that they were capable of doing the job. They all died..."

Lena balled her hand up into a fist, raising it up to her mouth. She shook her head in disapproval.

"My God, that's horrible..."

"It is..."

"And how did you get the bloody nose, Alfie?"

"Brecken did that too."

Lena only exclaimed even louder. She quickly began to grab a couple pieces of gauze and a bit of tape.

"I'm putting gauze on your nose for now. The bleeding should stop in a bit. Right now, we're going down to speak with that man."

Alfie looked at her, her face reddened and flustered. The anger emanating from her was such a peculiar thought, as she didn't tend to show that side of herself much. But, he couldn't help but agree with her anger. Brecken has begun to grow a bit sour these least few days. They needed to confront him about it before it consumed him any further.

* * *

"Are you almost there?"

"Yes, Brecken. We've almost arrived. We only need about 5 more minutes. We can do this!"

"Yeah, that's the spirit!" Brecken said as he began to feel a bit of relief wash over him. Perhaps the Scouts would be able to grab those supplies.

" _HARRIS!_ "

Brecken heard a familiar voice shout his first name out, and they said it extremely loud. He stood up from the chair, already feeling a tiny amount of nervousness drip into his guts. He knew exactly who had called out for him.

"Where are you!? Harris!" Lena shouted loudly from outside the room. She quickly found him in the room, and her face did not seem happy in the slightest.

"What the hell is going on with you, Brecken?" She demanded an answer.

"What the hell are you going on about?" He questioned, his face switching to confusion.

"Why would you punch Alfie, especially after he tried to help you understand what went wrong with the Scout mission!"

"Look! I did nothing wrong! We needed those supplies and it seemed like they were ready to be sent off. I didn't know it would end up like that!"

"I know that, Brecken. I understand that, but it didn't give you a right to throw a fit and PUNCH Alfie in the face!"

Brecken could see the man standing outside the door, watching the scene play itself out. He cursed internally.

"IT WAS A MOMENT OF-" Brecken stopped mid-sentence as the radio began to play static, before a voice came through.

" _Brecken, we've got the supplies._ " The voice said with excitement, yet Brecken closed his eyes and felt the need to disappear right then and there. " _We'll be arriving in a while!_ "

Lena looked at him with a death stare, and Alfie began to come into the room, standing to the doctor's side.

"Who the hell was that?" Lena asked.

"That..." He sighed in defeat. "That was... the last group of Scouts we have available..."

Lena face-palmed, while Alfie began to blow up.

"Why the FUCK would you send another group out after you got our other batch KILLED?!"

Brecken rushed up to the man, pointing his finger at him. "We're running out of things quickly! As the Leader of the Tower, I will not allow for that to happen! I'll do whatever it takes to keep this place alive and running!"

"You're willing to risk the lives of our supply runners just to prevent a few days of famine? You're willing to throw away 6 human lives for that?"

Brecken looked at Alfie, before growling in anger, sitting back down on the chair.

The three remained there for a bit, not talking or looking at each other, just thinking and thinking. Neither was ready to look at the other.

And in another 5 minutes, Brecken felt himself grow calm a bit. He felt the anger subside, and felt the want to discuss. The man was about to open his mouth to let out some words of reconciliation, when the radio started again.

" _BRECKEN! WE NEED BACKUP!_ "

He took a second to register what the Scout said, but once he did, he immediately grabbed the microphone and spoke.

"What? What's going on?"

" _We've been ambushed! We need help!_ "

Brecken looked at Lena, who gazed angrily, but still nodded. She ran out the room, calling for the help of a few soldiers. Meanwhile, he went back to talking with the Scout.

"Be careful! Just try and evade the zombie horde!"

" _We're not being attacked by zombies. They're some of the Garrison thugs!_ "

Brecken's eyes widened in realization, his hand letting go of the mic.

" _Hunter's men..._ " He whispered in a soft, solemn way. " _The Scouts... They were killed by him and his men..._ "

He snatched the microphone hard and gripped it hard, turning his knuckles white.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE!" Spit flew and panic bursted out in the form of Brecken's screams and his few shed tears.

"Brecken, we-" A loud gunshot resonated from the mic before it went dead silent.

* * *

 _ **I am very sorry for the long delay. I was hoping to get this chapter out sooner, but life just hasn't been that great. And then January just felt WAY too long in general. I wish I could try and write more and update sooner, but I also don't want to make false promises. Just know, I will update as soon as I can. I am very sorry for any complications/problems this brings up. :(**_

 _ **However, I do have a bit of good news. I made a Twitter account that's mostly going to revolve around this fanfiction. If you would like to follow, it's UranicSubset34 . For now, it'll probably still be a bit on the "meh" side, but perhaps, over time, it'll grow better. :)**_

 _ **-UraSub**_


	23. Chapter 23

Crane kept a steady pace while wading through the sewers. His light jogging allowed him to not get tired quickly, and also allowed him to analyze his whereabouts with a bit more ease. Once in a while, he had gone into different rooms, checking any crates or toolboxes in case a passing survivor had left anything. With this, he had gotten hold of a few boxes of nails, some string, some duct tape, and even a couple weapons

He knew he was getting closer to the Slums entrance of the sewers. The system of tunnels had already been engraved into his head. Though he didn't know all of the sewer system, he memorized the way to and from the Slums and Old Town like the back of his hand. With this, his mind told him he was about to arrive. He felt a bit of relief as he thought about arriving back, sleeping in his bed, and apologizing to that poor girl.

As he slowed down, letting his legs rest a bit, he failed to notice a small tangle of thugs stomping their way into the sewer system. Crane was too into his thoughts that he failed to see them arriving into the area he was in. And it wasn't until he heard shouts and felt a few bullets skim right by him that he snapped to attention, grabbing one of his guns and running back the way he came from.

"Fuck." He exclaimed. "How the hell do I get through them?"

He tried to think of a way, any way at all. He didn't want to take any longer to arrive. Both parts of the city were relying on his word and his actions. He needed to get back soon.

Crane could hear the footsteps of the thugs as they continued to yell. Once in a while, a grenade would go off. In a haste, he ran further into the tunnels. And before he had gone out of earshot, he heard the word dynamite being mentioned.

Panic began to set in as he began to realize what they had dynamite for. He hastily sneaked back, trying to hear in on what they were saying.

"Plant the dynamite. All of it! Set the timers, now!"

He heard the footsteps rapidly echoing into silence, his heart caught in his throat.

He began to sprint away from the area where the dynamite was. He could hear the distant beeping from the planted mechanism used to count the time before detonation.

"Fuck!" He breathed heavily. "Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!"

Rapidly, he went through the sewers, through rooms and through countless infected. Eventually, he began to arrive back at Old Town. Safety seemed so close... but it would only turn out to be a stall.

Crane arrived, breathing heavily as he squinted his eyes from the intense sunlight. He covered his eyes with his arms, enabling him to see a couple figures approaching him.

"It's him! Hurry! Plant the last one!"

His eyes widened, realizing what was going on. His hand shot towards his bag, grabbing hold of one of the blade handles sticking out. As it swiped out of the bag, the two men threw the bomb towards the sewer entrance. It rolled down the stairs, a little too late for Crane to grab it. He ran towards the two men, raising his weapon, and striking down with immense force.

Unfortunately, the man he planned to strike had blocked his attack using a weapon of his own. Kyle snarled in frustration and began to strike quick and hard. Many of his strikes had been blocked, the thug he kept attacking panting in anger.

Crane retracted his machete swiftly. He took a jump back, dodging a strike that one of the two thugs gave. He backed away slowly as he reached towards his bag again, running his hand inside to feel for the cold metal of his pistol. He kept his eyes on the two men while doing so.

When he finally found it and grabbed it, one of the thugs grabbed a grenade and threw it towards Kyle.

The man ran away, shielding himself by hiding behind a wall. He breathed in and out heavily, poking his head out a bit to find where they were. Spotting them trying to sneak towards him, he raised his pistol, before stepping out of hiding and beginning to fire at the two men. Bullets flew out from the gun, flying towards the thugs. One of the thugs yelped in pain as a bullet pierced his arm, while the other screamed in agony as it struck his shoulder shoulder blade.

He aimed again, before firing. In only a second, one thug fell, his head containing a small, gaping hole. The other wriggled in pain in the floor, gently touching his shoulder with shaky hands.

Kyle began to walk towards the man, pushing his foot down on the thug's shoulder. Screams of indescribable pain rang out, bringing a sort of sadistic pleasure to Crane.

"Why are you here?" Crane demanded. "Why did Hunter send you here?"

"Bite me!"

Kyle only stepped harder, causing further screaming. The thug looked into Crane's eyes, but found them devoid of any sort of positive emotion.

"Why are you here? Tell me!"

Through tears and a sore throat, the man began to speak.

"W-w" The thug stuttered. "We're not letting you go..."

Crane saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He shot his head to the left, seeing a small device in the thug's hand. He gasped as he tried to grab the item.

The thug pressed the device and the floor below the two men began to rumble and shake. Crane began to run away, leaving the thug to die.

He jumped as high as he could, barely grabbing hold of the railing from the building's second floor. He could see and feel the entire thing shaking and trembling badly.

He quickly looked up to find some parts of the roof falling down. He dodged a large portion. He ran into a room, where he ducked under a desk that was inside. More and more bits of roofing fell onto the desk, making it collapse and hit Crane's head.

He felt his consciousness die away as the rumbling died down as

* * *

Brecken paced his room. Back and forth. Back and forth. His mind had been so scrambled, so ruined. His train of thought had been derailed since the death of the last Scouts. Not even an hour ago, he heard the last of the group die. It haunted his head. The sounds tormented him to the point that he feared sleeping.

He had tried to fall asleep after his fight with Lena and Alfie, but every time he did, his dreams were flooded with terror and the sounds of the dying Scouts.

His head pounded. His eyes were bloodshot and he felt like he had begun to lose himself.

"I'm growing delusional!" Brecken gripped his head, eyes widened. "I don't know what's happening. Why is everything falling apart? What happened that caused all of this?"

Along with the death of the Scouts was also the slow demise that was soon to come to the Tower residents. Lack of supplies had already begun to show itself. Antizin had already been wrung to almost bone dry status. Food was faltering in numbers. Bottled water, as well, suffered the same fate.

He needed to do something. He needed to bring more supplies. Even if they couldn't get Antizin, food and water would be just fine. They just needed to hold out until Crane arrived.

"Ugh...!" He grunted. "Why aren't you here yet, Crane!? Where the hell are you?"

Brecken continued to pace his room, but he halted himself when he heard the doors to his room creak. He faced the entrance, finding Lena peeking her head a bit through the opened doors.

"Brecken," She said. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing. I'm not doing anything."

She opened the doors more and stepped inside. She slowly walked up to the man, crossing her arms.

"Brecken... You need to tell me what is going on."

No response came from the man.

"Look at yourself, Harris!" Lena scanned the man with an angered glare. "You've changed! You don't even look or act like yourself anymore!"

"Lena, please. I just need some time alone..."

"What happened to you, Harris?" Lena muttered painfully. "You were never like this. You always knew how to plan something out efficiently."

"I-" He started. "I don't know... I don't know what's happening to me. I haven't been acting like the leader I'm supposed to be..."

He went towards Lena, gripping her hands in his, allowing his head to touch hers lightly.

"I know I haven't been acting like the leader everyone expected me to be." He sighed. "But please understand, Lena... These decisions I've made... They were for the sake of the Tower. They were for you, for Jade and Rahim..."

"And they were for Crane..." He continued. "I sent those Scouts for supplies because I know that Kyle is out doing an important delivery. He's been through enough. We can't keep making him do all of our errands."

Lena just stayed quiet. Her eyes were blank, but Brecken knew she had payed attention.

"Brecken... I know that. I already know that we're at the edge of a disaster..." She lifted her head and her hands up, gently grabbing Brecken's face. "But you shouldn't have sent those Scouts. Kyle is most likely going to be back by now. Just a few more days wouldn't have ruined us."

"But that's the thing, Lena!" He exclaimed with emotion. "Those Scouts didn't die because they were weak or improperly trained. They died because of that fucker! That piece of shit, Hunter!"

Lena exhaled. "I know... But what can we do now? We don't have anymore Scouts and Crane still has yet to appear."

Brecken turned his head to the window, finding the sun beginning to lower down into the horizon. He released a deep sigh, his eyes shutting tiredly.

"I don't know, Lena." He said quietly. "All we can do is hope that He makes it back in time."

Brecken felt himself become enveloped in a hug. Feeling Lena's body warmth, he felt himself grow just a bit more relieved. His tense and stressed-out body slacked a little as he also wrapped his arms around Lena.

He just wished he could keep himself like this and never let the tranquility fade away ever again.

* * *

Kyle slowly began to awake back to life. His eyes tried to identify where he was.

"Where the hell am I?" He groaned as he began to prop himself up. A painful sting pierced the top of his head as he slowly got to his feet.

He began to realize that the day had already gone by, being replaced by the nighttime.

"It's night..." He said, confusion in his voice. "How...? How am I... still here..."

"How have I not been controlled?"

Crane wanted to keep asking himself. He wanted answers. Why had the Volatile not taken the chance to gain control of his body? Why did it stay in its dormant state?

He had no time to answer anything. Quickly, Crane began to walk out of the wrecked room he had collapsed in. He began to head towards an overturned table, walking on it to slowly raise himself up to reach the top platform of the building he was in.

Crane began to climb up, planting his legs onto the weak and unstable floor. With a steady pace, he began to head towards the stairway. Once he reached the stairs, he began to run up them, skipping a few steps at times, till he came to the entrance leading outside.

There, the man leaned towards the wall. He closed his eyes in disillusion. He didn't know what to think. So much ran through his scrambled mind.

"How do I get back? Where do I get back from?"

"When am I going to get back?"

Crane leaned on a wall still, just holding his hands to his head, the weight of all that just occurred beating him down. He wanted to just lie down and sleep forever. The fatigue contaminated his veins, making him feel weak and hopeless.

"I'm tired..." He slid down to the floor, eyes closing with slanted eyebrows. "So tired..."

He stayed on the floor, not thinking about anything anymore. He only focused on his breathing, which had slowly gone down to a stable rate over a couple minutes.

He opened his eyes again, staring at the ceiling.

"I have to take the risk." He whispered. "I need to talk to Troy soon. The Tower needs me back. If I can talk to her and the Embers, I can try and see if they know another way back to the Slums."

He let that idea sit in his head for him to run over it. As he did so, he began to hear yelling coming from outside the building he was in.

He quickly got up from the floor, stepping towards the door. He grabbed the handle and pulled the door open, peeking out. He could see a small group of Runners approaching the building he was in.

"Fuck!" He blurted out. "Why the hell are they here?"

Hastily, Crane looked back to see if he had left anything. After confirming nothing had been left, he yanked the door open, running out of the building. He tried to run away from the Runners, but he heard someone mention 'Volatile'.

"Fuck." Crane gasped. "Holy fuck!"

A bullet whizzed right by him. He immediately jumped down from the building, readying himself for the painful impact. To his surprise, he felt little pain. His hands ached from the fall, but he had been fine.

"Thank god for Volatile strength!" He exclaimed as he began to run towards the

* * *

"It's here! The Volatile's here!" A Runner yelled into his walkie talkie.

He saw as it began to run off, heading in the direction of the Loft.

"Wait, What do you mean?!" Troy's voice came through the device.

"We came to inspect the damage to the sewer entrance near the inner part of the city! The Volatile came out of the building the entrance is in!"

"You are not supposed to be out during the night!" Troy yelled angrily. "We cannot risk losing any more lives!"

"Troy, we'll discuss this later! Right now, you need to send help! If we can do this, then it'll end the monster's savagery!"

"Fine!" Troy exclaimed.

"Where is it?" Troy's voice came through the device. "How prepared are you to take it on right now?"

"We're not prepared well. We'll need a lot of reinforcements..." He stated. "But there's a good thing in this whole situation. That thing's heading in the direction of the Loft. Send as many Runners as you can send down to the streets. My group will catch up soon."

"All right..." Troy said. "But please be careful when you try to attack it."

"Will do, Troy."

The Runner strapped his walkie back to his hip. He looked at his small group.

"Let's get a move on!" He shouted. "We've got a Volatile to

* * *

He ran swiftly, jumping with enough force to reach the roof of another building close to the one he had been on. Jumping onto another roof, he scrambled in a panic as he began to slip. Quickly, his claws dug into the tiled roof of the building as he clutched the edge. Grunting with effort, he lifted himself back up onto the roof of the building. He glanced back, finding the group not too far off.

"Hurry! It's right there! Shoot it!" Yelled one man, before bullets flew at Crane. He ducked instinctively, his arms shooting to his face to shield him. He groaned lightly, before continuing to run.

As he jumped onto another roof, the sound of footsteps coming near caught in his ear. Confused, he went to the edge of the roof he was in, where he found another group attempting to sneak to his blind spot and catch him off guard.

Before he could consider any sort of action, a flare came to life amongst the group. It was quickly flung into the air, flying towards Crane fast. He shielded his eyes as the flare began to burn his skin.

He groaned in agony as his skin almost seemed to bubble from the UV light. Gripping the area of pain, he ran away, focusing solely on the Loft.

He was not too far now. He was so close to the sanctuary. He felt his body beginning to sprint faster than he had ever gone before. He whizzed past another group of people residing on the ground. Flares flew onto the rooftops ahead of him, and, yet, he still raced past them like nothing.

Smoke arose from his skin, but the adrenaline within his veins granted him a temporary immunity to pain. He felt so alive, yet so inhuman and monstrous.

Stopping abruptly under the scaffolding of the Loft, he crouched briefly. Charging himself up, he jumped up high, gripping onto the actual buildings stone edges. He climbed up the edges, hearing the concerned speeches from the people below.

He heard them shouting, before more rounds began to shoot towards him. He heard metal on rock, but still felt as if something had pushed against his abdomen. He didn't focus on it, even when he could feel the heat and pain beginning to set in.

He heard people shouting for Troy. He grew hopeful now. He was so close now. Only a few more seconds and he could finally be able to talk with the woman.

Crane heard a gun cock suddenly. He looked up hastily, seeing the barrel of a shotgun aimed at him.

His eyes widened, before he dug the claws from his left hand into the stone, letting his right hand free itself from the building's side.

Crane swung out of the way of the firearm's path just in time before it blew out its pellets. He looked again, finding the gun aimed at him again.

"Wait!" He yelled out, his eyes tightened as he expected an explosion. "Don't shoot!"

He could barely catch the sound of a small gasp before he took the chance he had to swiftly climb the side of the building. Like a spider, he climbed in no time, before he was finally on the Loft's flat surface.

His arms instinctively came up to cover his face as the UV lights began to sting his skin.

"What are you...?" Asked the familiar feminine voice.

Kyle, with the last of his strength, forced himself to lower his arms.

"Crane..." He mumbled, before feeling himself finally collapse from fatigue and

* * *

"Holy shit!" Troy shouted, Michael and Savvy slowly walking to her side. "Is that-"

"It's Crane!" Savvy exclaimed, his eyes widened like dinner plates. "But he's a..."

"He's the goddamn Volatile!" Troy yelled in frustration. "I don't believe it... How the hell...?"

"I think we should leave it alone guys." Michael commented. "Plus, how are sure it is Crane? I mean, yeah, it looks like him and stuff, but how can we know for sure?"

"He spoke his name..." Troy muttered. "He spoke his name before knocking out. I don't know how the hell this is a thing that's possible, but once he wakes up, I'm bombarding this man with questions!"

Troy quickly called off all of the hunters aiming to kill Crane. With the help of Savvy and Michael, both who were scared to grab Crane, in fear he'd awaken, she allowed the man-volatile hybrid to rest.

She just couldn't help but feel a shiver of terror pass through her as she watched him sleep.


	24. Chapter 24

"Wake up..."

Pitch black was all he could see.

"Wake up."

He couldn't explain why he suddenly grew furious.

"WAKE UP."

He bared his teeth, beginning to growl low.

"WAKE UP!"

He let out a booming yell that drowned out all other sounds.

* * *

Crane shot up from his bed, yelling loudly as his sweaty and flustered face was wrinkled up. His mouth was wide open as he gripped his head.

The sound of the man's screams alerted Troy, Savvy, and Michael. Troy peeked down into the small room Savvy tended to use. She quickly climbed down, before she attempted to speak with Kyle.

"Hey, Crane!" Troy tried to yell over the man's screams. "Crane! Snap out of it! Crane!"

She shook him slightly hard, speaking at the same time too. It did not take long before he finally calmed down, his bloodshot, glowing eyes finally opening.

He looked at Troy, sighing deeply in relief.

"I made it...!" Breathed Crane, a weak smile on his face. "I finally made it to you."

"Crane, I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but you need to explain a lot of stuff!" Troy exclaimed, stepping back a bit.

"About what?"

"About you!" She yelled, pointing fearfully. "Why are you like this? When did you become like this? How did this even happen and how are you even thinking straight still?!"

"Okay, Troy, I'll explain! Just let me get my shit together!"

He grunted, sitting upright to properly look at Troy. She cringed a little, staring hard at the seemingly terrifying sight in front of her.

"This all started when I was at the Countryside..."

* * *

Brecken was sprawled onto the couch in his room, his chest rising and falling slowly as he looked out the open door to the balcony. It was another crisp morning. Fog blanketed the horizon, a phenomenon occurring more often, now that the days were slowly becoming colder. He knew that wouldn't stop the infected at all. All it would create was a reason for them to continue hiding away in places even their best people wouldn't be able to reach anymore.

Well, anyone else but Crane...

That man almost seemed to be indestructible, surviving infected of all types, people of different levels of sanity, and even things that seemed to defy all of the ideas and concepts already set in stone by them. Brecken wasn't exactly sure how the hell Crane was so damn sturdy and resilient, but he also didn't want to complain either. He was really the only reason why anyone was still alive in Harran.

Finally feeling ready to get up, Brecken lifted the top half of his body up, before turning his body so that his feet were touching the hard wood floor. He stood to his full height, stretching his arms and giving out a relieved groan. He grabbed his boots, then walked to his small closet to grab a pair of long, white socks.

He quickly discarded his sweaty shirt, as well as his dirtied pants. He picked out another pair of the two articles of clothes that were the same as the previous pairs.

"Same yellow shirt and same brown pants..." He muttered boringly, putting on the pants first. He put the shirt on afterwards, before he closed his closet and began to put his socks on. After that, he slipped into his boots.

Carefully, he ran his hand through his hair, fixing it a bit. As he did so, he let his fingers lightly run against the scar imprinted on his head. It was still tender and soft to the touch, despite almost being couple years old already. He cringed a little at the memory, at the pain that came at being hit in the head.

He sighed lightly, walking to the door of his room, exiting the place where he felt he only experienced true tranquility anymore.

* * *

"Everything has been arranged as you have asked them to be, sir."

"Good." Said Hunter, staring at the ceiling. "And what is the status on Crane? Has he been killed yet?"

"We haven't gotten word from the Old Town faction. It is possible they may have gotten him, but I cannot say for certain."

Hunter cursed, slamming his fist onto the surface of his desk. He breathed out sharply from his nose, before speaking again.

"I want you to tell Berk, Yavuz, and Soner to prepare themselves greatly for this." Hunter said frustratingly. "I CANNOT afford to fuck up yet another plan! I cannot let these fuckers live any longer!"

"Do they prepare for the plan or for Crane's possible arrival?"

"Both! I want factions stationed at every possible open tunnel entrance. Us destroying the main tunnel won't stop someone like Crane."

"And what about-"

"Soner and Berk will take care of them." Hunter interrupted. "Yavuz will assist in attempting to catch Crane. Our plans will not fail this time!"

"I do not want to sound negative, nor do I want to question your idea, but... Are you sure they will even hear it? How are we sure they'll even find the same channel we use?"

"They will find it! I am certain that they still communicate that way. I saw that they were capable of doing so before."

"You've been inside the Tower before?"

Hunter was close to speaking, but he stopped himself. He had been, yet it had been the worst thing that could have happened to him.

"That is none of your business! Leave now and tell Berk, Yavuz, and Soner exactly what I have planned out!"

"Yes, sir..."

* * *

"That's about it, Troy." Crane said nonchalantly as he took a bite out of his baklava. The female leader, meanwhile, looked utterly confused and concerned.

"Holy shit, Crane..." She said lowly, shaking her head a little. "This is so fucked up. I-I don't even know what to say... This is just so much to try and take in."

"Trust me, Troy." Crane muttered. "I still don't get it at all either. I don't know how this works, nor do I know whether I can be cured of this shit or not. I'm going to have to go with my gut here and say that I'm absolutely fucked for life now."

"Jesus..." She breathed incredulously. "So, you don't even know how your still sane? Like, you don't even have some sort of hint as to why?"

Crane merely shook his head, his mouth tightening into a line. Troy just gave him a pained and understanding look.

"I'm sorry this happened to you, Crane." She said. "I don't think anyone should suffer through this type of torture."

"Well," Crane shrugged. "At this point, I'm not even surprised this happened. My life just seemed to always be surrounded by tragedy, especially during my time here in Harran. The things that happened still haunt me, but, I try my best to not let it consume me. I try to tell myself that it wasn't all my fault."

Troy gave a pained sigh, the frown on her face growing a little. Crane simply pursed his lips, also giving out a sigh.

"Wait!" Kyle exclaimed. "What time is it?"

"It's..." Troy checked her watch, before speaking again. "18:30. Why?"

"I need to go." He stated, grabbing his belongings quickly. "I need to get back to the Tower as soon as possible. I've been gone for longer than I needed to be."

"Okay." She said softly. "You don't want to give them a call first?"

"Nah." He said, rising his hand up and shaking it. "I'm sure they are already expecting me to come back soon."

Troy shrugged, but still grabbed a walkie talkie left on Savvy's desk. She handed it to Crane, who took it graciously.

"Thanks, Troy." He mumbled. "But, I need to ask. Do you think I can probably make it through the original sewer entrance? I know it's caved in and stuff, but I can probably dig my way through the rubble."

"What?!" Troy exclaimed. "No! You'll get yourself killed! We can't let you die on us, especially with so much shit happening now. It's best to be more safe than sorry."

"Well, where do you suppose I go in order to get back?"

Troy cocked her eyebrow at him, before heading to a map sprawled out on Savvy's desk.

"I think I know a way..."

* * *

Brecken could see the sun slowly lowering down into the horizon. It was still fairly lit outside of the Tower, but roughly in another hour or so, darkness would surely arrive.

He sighed deeply, staring at the bowl of food that was already a little cold. He didn't want to eat it anymore, but he couldn't waste anything. He had to be more frugal with food now more than ever, as they were almost down to nothing.

He heard footsteps approaching, so he turned to the double doors of his room. He saw Lena open the doors slowly, giving him a soft smile.

"Hi, Harris." She said with a soft voice. "How are you feeling?"

"Not okay, really." He grumbled, his face falling in disappointment. "I just-"

He gave a sharp sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose. His eyebrows scrunched down, pained, as the bags under his eyes became more visible. Lena frowned at the sight of her love so cracked and stressed out.

"I don't really know what to do anymore..." He mumbled, staring tiredly at the floor. "Crane still hasn't come back. I'm really worried now."

"I'm sure he is fine, Brecken." She assured him, but he shook his head in disapproval.

"Crane has gone to Old Town one too many times already." He looked at Lena worryingly. "He knows the tunnel paths like the back of his hand already. He's connected with many of the survivors in that sector too. I'm worried that he may have..."

"Reverted to the Volatile..." Lena whispered, but Brecken shook his head.

"That Hunter may have gotten to him."

"What?"

Brecken stood up now, beginning to explain.

"Crane reverting into his Volatile form is the least of our worries. We know he can at least turn back after a while."

"How is Hunter more of a threat than that, Harris?"

"Because he isn't a Volatile!" He exclaimed. "He can easily hit us all at any time of the day. He can hit us when we least expect it. And what's worse? He can easily trick us. This man's a much more tactical leader than that fucker, Rais!"

Lena pursed her lips, nodding lightly. She began to understand why Brecken felt this way now.

"But why would Hunter even want to get ahold of Crane? He's just a sentient Volatile!"

"That's exactly why anyone would want to grab him! He's a bio weapon at this point! If Hunter takes him, than he can use him to gain power within the Quarantine. We'll all be done for if that happens."

Lena has her eyes widened once she took in that concept. She shook her head fearfully, not even wanting to think up such a scenario in which Crane was used against them all.

"Than, what do we do?" She asked softly. "Should we contact Troy to ask her if she's been visited by him yet?"

"No." Brecken said. "She doesn't know about Crane's conditions. It's not time for anyone else but us to know about the whole situation. That way, we can at least prevent some potential problems that may arise in Old Town."

Lena nodded in understanding.

"Do you think Camden may be available?" She asked. "Surely he may know what occurred with Crane. Perhaps he had him run some more errands for him?"

Brecken shrugged, before getting up from his couch, walking to the radio.

"I guess it's worth a shot."

He grabbed the mic of the radio, before he turned it on. Soft white noise played from the device, so Brecken began to toy with it, shifting through different channels.

Each channel he passed by, there was nothing but static noise. He tried to remember the one he would use at times to speak with Camden, but could not fully recall what exact channel it had been.

Static. Static. Static. It was all just static now. Which one was the damn channel for the doctor?

"Help!" A voice rang out from the radio. Brecken cocked his eyebrow, before he glanced at Lena, who looked confused as well. "Help me! Anyone! I'm trapped in the school, near the Garrison! These thugs with red symbols on their clothes are trying to kill me! Please, anyone, help me!"

Brecken looked at Lena again, who stared at him with such hesitance.

"Brecken, no." She said sternly. "It is too dangerous for us to help this man. We do not have anymore Scouts to escort us to him."

"But those fuckers from Hunter are trying to kill him! We can't let that man kill anymore innocent people!"

Lena opened her mouth to speak, but the voice in the radio rang out again.

"AH! Help me! AGH! Please! Help me! They shot me in the leg! AAAAGGGGHHH!"

Brecken looked sternly at Lena, who stared back at him, her face showing defeat. She closed her eyes as she spoke.

"What do you suggest we do?"

"Alert the soldiers we have with us. They have the firepower to help us."

Lena nodded, beginning to walk out, when she was held back by the hand on her shoulder.

"Wait, Lena." Brecken said. "I need you to come along with us."

"Harris, no." Lena gasped, looking at him in disbelief. "I don't ever go outside. I don't want to go outside."

"Lena, please. You are the one with the best medical experience here. We need you, at least just so you can treat him temporarily."

"Harris, it is not safe for someone like me to venture out into that hellscape. I am not a physical fighter!"

"Lena, we will take care of you." Brecken stated. "I will take care of you. I'll make sure that no one or nothing has the chance to even try to hurt you. You will be safe with us, love."

Lena's jaw clenched tightly, her lips tightening into a straight line, before she growled softly.

"Fine!" She said a little too angrily. "This will be the only time you take me out of this place, Harris."

Brecken nodded, before kissing Lena briefly. She quickly parted from the quick contact, rushing away to alert the armed soldiers on the first floor.

Brecken sighed, wondering whether he was in the right, or if he was sending them all into yet another mistake.

* * *

Crane resented the idea so much. He despised going through the tunnel the first time. He wasn't keen on going through it all over again.

He had suggested on just taking the destroyed tunnel still. He didn't mind digging through the rubble.

But Troy was insistent. She wanted him to not get killed trying to dig through the unstable wreckage. Instead, she told him to go a longer way, through the tunnel to the dam, then through a second tunnel leading out to the freeway inside the Slums.

He hated that path. He had barely escaped when he had gone through it the first time. He wasn't sure whether his current state would help him or stop him in the Volatile nest. He was scared to find out the answer.

And now, he was traveling through the dam, almost close to reaching the end of it. He had forgotten just how confusing and winding the damn journey had been. So many tunnels, so many rooms, so many Virals. So many obstacles, yet with so little time on his hands.

He quickly ran up the flight of stairs, seeing the door leading outside coming closer and closer. He sighed in relief as he finished climbing the stairs, opening the metal door of the dam.

A gust of fresh air hit his face as he blocked his eyes from the light that suddenly struck his eyes. He let his eyes recover, before he walked to the edge of the dam. He peeked down, finding the bags of trash from before still laying there.

"Thank god." Muttered Crane, before stepping back a bit. He jogged forward now, before allowing himself to fall from where he had been standing. The rushing air whipped him in the face, yet he felt so at ease feeling it's cool touch hit him.

He felt the breath in his lungs escape as he finally landed on the trash bags. He gasped for air a bit, before letting out a wheezy cough. He groaned lightly as he stood back onto his feet.

Letting himself rest a little, he stretched a bit, hearing the bones in certain parts of his body shifting with a satisfying crack.

He gazed at the radio tower, looking at the very top of it and grunting in response. He still hated this place, even if it didn't look to bad in all actuality. He had a perfect view of the Infamy Bridge from here, and he even had the opportunity to see all of Harran from the radio tower...

"Fuck that." Crane scoffed, snorting at the idea of climbing the entire thing all over again for no real reason. He let his body relax for a few more seconds, before he began to jog again, heading in the direction of the second tunnel.

As he ran to it, he heard the screams of Virals to his left. A group of three began to sprint to him, raising their arms up, readying up an attack. However, just as they finally reached close to Crane, Kyle stopped dead in his tracks and turned around swiftly.

Ducking in time, he missed being hit by the Viral in the front. He quickly swiped his left hand upwards, slicing the infected open, causing it to choke out painfully, before collapsing in a bloody heap.

Crane shoved away the corpse, before he went to work on the other two Virals, both of which had backed away, sensing the danger that he presented.

Not even a minute after, Crane was finished slaughtering the infected. However, he saw the mess he made on his hands, and, to not present himself messily, he quickly ran back to the dirt path, where a section of the ocean lapped at the edge of this path. He quickly rinsed his hands, before running again.

This time, he didn't look back when he heard the screams of more Virals in the distance. He simply went deep into the tunnel, going through the halls that allowed him to evade the caved in sections.

It did not take long before his nose caught the horrid smell of iron, as well of putrefied flesh. He gagged at the smell, but he could also feel his mouth water. He grew disgusted at himself, but forced himself to not focus on that.

He arrived at the end of a hall, peering out from the wall of the hall, looking into the section of the tunnel that was hellish in nature.

The hills of corpses was still there. The things had since rotted, some becoming dry, while others still oozed blood, putrid bodily fluids, and dirty moisture from the humid air.

He felt vomit rise up to his throat, and he nearly puked out whatever he had inside his stomach, but he swallowed his contents back down with an unsatisfied gulp.

He breathed in and out heavily, before he shook himself. He began to walk into the section slowly, seeing the macabre scene once more.

He cringed with every glance he stole of a corpse, or of a puddle of blood that had already grown patches of concentrated mold already. He looked away every time he caught sight of a hand sticking out of the pile, the position hinting that it was someone reaching out for help. He felt a pit in his stomach whenever a Volatile passed by him, snarling and growling, yet treating him like one of their own.

And he felt like he was in a labyrinth as he continued walking, the piles and piles of death not waning. He could see them continue on for a lot longer, more than they had the first time he had gone through here. And it wasn't until he finally saw the familiar abandoned truck that a sense of relief finally broke the intensity coursing through his veins.

Crane ran now, his loud footsteps beginning to alert the Volatiles. He could hear their terrifying snarls as their pounding footsteps approached rapidly.

Finally coming close to the truck, Crane jumped, poorly landing on the hood of the truck. He quickly climbed to its container before he was narrowly swiped at by a Volatile.

He breathed quickly, looking at the Volatiles already arriving, before finally leaving. He quickly ran down the flight of stairs, before his feet were enveloped in cool, stagnant water.

Crane opened the door to the hall, which was his ticket back to the Slums. He slowly walked forward, deeper into the watery hall, before he looked to his left. He saw the door, rusted and decaying away, but still fairly intact.

"Thank God!" He exclaimed, walking to the door.

He opened the door, the hinges on it screeching horribly as the convoluted rust peeled away. The water in the hall began to spill out into the safe zone that was directly next to the door. Crane shrugged it off, before he began to head to the end of the tunnel, where light had still shined.

As he approached the end, static from his walkie talkie pierced his ears.

" _Help!_ " A voice yelled from the device, causing Crane to cock his eyebrow in confusion. " _Help me! Anyone! I'm trapped in the school, near the Garrison! These thugs with red symbols on their clothes are trying to kill me! Please, anyone, help me!_ "

Crane felt a surge of anger shoot through his veins.

"That fucker!" He growled darkly. "I swear to God, that piece of shit will learn his lesson!"

Crane was about to contact Brecken through the walkie, ready to explain to him that he was going to save a person in trouble, when the unknown man's voice came from the walkie talkie again.

" _AH! Help me! AGH! Please! Help me! They shot me in the leg! AAAAGGGGHHH!_ "

Kyle brushed off the fact that he still needed to speak with Brecken. Instead, his top priority was getting to that guy that was in trouble. He needed to stop Hunter and his thugs before he could do anymore things to innocent people.

He ran out of the safe zone, jumping away efficiently, running in the direction of the school.

* * *

"Hurry, we don't have much time!" Brecken shouted, jogging alongside Lena and the few armed guards that accompanied them. "We're not letting that fucker kill anymore citizens."

The school was not far now. They could make it in less than 10 minutes. They just needed to keep pushing forward.

* * *

Crane ran faster now, seeing the school in the distance. He felt the rage still boiling within him.

He wouldn't allow Hunter to take anymore lives.

* * *

"Search the perimeter." Brecken demanded, making the guards spread out and take a quick sweep of the exterior. "Lena and I will try to find this guy inside."

* * *

Crane grabbed onto the gray wall of the school. He quickly scaled it, before landing on the dirt floor of the school's grounds. His eyes scrunched in hesitance, before his ears caught a voice shouting demands.

He ran to the entrance part of the school, attempting to reach the voice that he knew very well.

* * *

"Lena, try to open the door to the school." Brecken said. "I'll cover you."

He watched briefly as Lena ran to the door, before he shot his head back to the entrance of the school.

His ears suddenly caught the sound of footsteps on dirt running in their direction. He raised his machete to his chest, readying himself for an attack, when a familiar figure came into view.

"Crane?!"

* * *

He ran out from behind the wall, coming into Brecken's view rapidly.

"Crane?!" The leader shouted incredulously, before running to him, Lena following suit once she heard that name.

"Holy shit!" Brecken shouted. "You're finally here! Where the hell have you been?!"

"Through hell and back." Crane sighed, his eyebrows shooting up, then down sarcastically. "So much shit happened! I can't explain right now, but once we're back, I'll fill you in."

"Yeah. Yeah. Sounds good, mate." Brecken said. "But... why are you here?"

"I got a distress message. That fucker, Hunter, tried to kill this guy on the radio. He said he was here at the school."

"You got the message too?"

"Yeah." Crane stated simply. "Wait. Is that why you two are here?"

"Not just us. We brought some of the Tower's guards too. Right now, they're scanning the outside of the school for any of Hunter's men."

Crane nodded in approval. He breathed out heavily, before readying himself to speak.

However, as he was about to let out the words in his mouth, a gunshot rang out in the distance. A scream could be heard, followed by another gunshot and silence.

Crane looked at Brecken, who looked back at him in concern. As they began to run outside of the school, more gunshots pierced the silence, as did the screams of sheer pain that followed.

Crane felt confusion spill into his mind.

What the hell had happened? What was going on?

He had no time to react in his shaken state of mind. Many hands grabbed his arms, his legs. He was shoved to the floor, a thick rope tightening against his malformed flesh. He grunted in protest, wriggling in the constricts of the horrid rope.

He looked up, finding Brecken and Lena suffering the same fate. They had been pinned to the ground, similar rope snaking through loops to tighten its grasp on its victims.

Kyle looked in disbelief as a figure approached, the sunset shining behind him. His walk was prideful, as if he was full of pretentiousness.

He walked straight to Crane, kneeling to his level.

"It's about time you let yourself get caught." Hunter said condescendingly, his hand grabbing Crane by the chin forcibly. "It's so fascinating seeing you up close. I couldn't believe something as insane as you could even exist."

"Fuck you." Crane hissed, but was quickly silenced by a punch in the face.

Hunter hummed in disapproval.

"That's no way our Hero should behave." Hunter taunted. "Perhaps we need to take you back to the Garrison. We'll see how much you can handle before you finally break."

Crane growled in anger, the Volatile beginning to rise up like bile.

He let himself become consumed.

He felt himself beginning to fade away, the monster taking over...

A sudden burn caused him to yell out in pain, making him suddenly come back to his senses. He no longer felt the instincts anymore. They had disappeared almost immediately.

The bright UV light in his eyes shut off as Hunter chuckled darkly.

"C'mon Crane..." Hunter said. "Let's take a trip down your horrible memory lane."


End file.
